While the House of Commons has a defined 650-seat membership, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 780 sitting Lords, the House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament to be larger than its lower house.[8]

The House of Lords scrutinises bills that have been approved by the House of Commons,[9] it regularly reviews and amends Bills from the Commons.[10] While it is unable to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances,[11] it can delay Bills and force the Commons to reconsider their decisions;[12] in this capacity, the House of Lords acts as a check on the House of Commons that is independent from the electoral process.[13][14][15] Bills can be introduced into either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. While members of the Lords may also take on roles as government ministers, high-ranking officials such as cabinet ministers are usually drawn from the Commons, the House of Lords has its own support services, separate from the Commons, including the House of Lords Library.

The Queen's Speech is delivered in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament; in addition to its role as the upper house, until the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2009, the House of Lords, through the Law Lords, acted as the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom judicial system.[16] The House also has a Church of England role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within the House by the Lords Spiritual.

The House of Lords developed from the "Great Council" (Magnum Concilium) that advised the King during medieval times,[17] this royal council came to be composed of ecclesiastics, noblemen, and representatives of the counties of England and Wales (afterwards, representatives of the boroughs as well). The first English Parliament is often considered to be the "Model Parliament" (held in 1295), which included archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, and representatives of the shires and boroughs of it.

The power of Parliament grew slowly, fluctuating as the strength of the monarchy grew or declined, for example, during much of the reign of Edward II (1307–1327), the nobility was supreme, the Crown weak, and the shire and borough representatives entirely powerless. In 1569, the authority of Parliament was for the first time recognised not simply by custom or royal charter, but by an authoritative statute, passed by Parliament itself.

During the reign of Edward II's successor, Edward III, Parliament clearly separated into two distinct chambers: the House of Commons (consisting of the shire and borough representatives) and the House of Lords (consisting of the bishops, abbots and peers). The authority of Parliament continued to grow, and during the early 15th century both Houses exercised powers to an extent not seen before, the Lords were far more powerful than the Commons because of the great influence of the great landowners and the prelates of the realm.

The power of the nobility declined during the civil wars of the late 15th century, known as the Wars of the Roses. Much of the nobility was killed on the battlefield or executed for participation in the war, and many aristocratic estates were lost to the Crown. Moreover, feudalism was dying, and the feudal armies controlled by the barons became obsolete. Henry VII (1485–1509) clearly established the supremacy of the monarch, symbolised by the "Crown Imperial", the domination of the Sovereign continued to grow during the reigns of the Tudor monarchs in the 16th century. The Crown was at the height of its power during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547).

The House of Lords was reduced to a largely powerless body, with Cromwell and his supporters in the Commons dominating the Government, on 19 March 1649, the House of Lords was abolished by an Act of Parliament, which declared that "The Commons of England [find] by too long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of England."[18] The House of Lords did not assemble again until the Convention Parliament met in 1660 and the monarchy was restored, it returned to its former position as the more powerful chamber of Parliament—a position it would occupy until the 19th century.

The 19th century was marked by several changes to the House of Lords, the House, once a body of only about 50 members, had been greatly enlarged by the liberality of George III and his successors in creating peerages. The individual influence of a Lord of Parliament was thus diminished.

Moreover, the power of the House as a whole decreased, whilst that of the House of Commons grew. Particularly notable in the development of the Lower House's superiority was the Reform Bill of 1832, the electoral system of the House of Commons was far from democratic: property qualifications greatly restricted the size of the electorate, and the boundaries of many constituencies had not been changed for centuries.

Entire cities such as Manchester were not represented by a single individual in the House of Commons, but the 11 voters of Old Sarum retained their ancient right to elect two MPs. A small borough was susceptible to bribery, and was often under the control of a patron, whose nominee was guaranteed to win an election, some aristocrats were patrons of numerous "pocket boroughs", and therefore controlled a considerable part of the membership of the House of Commons.

When the House of Commons passed a Reform Bill to correct some of these anomalies in 1831, the House of Lords rejected the proposal, the popular cause of reform, however, was not abandoned by the ministry, despite a second rejection of the bill in 1832. Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey advised the King to overwhelm opposition to the bill in the House of Lords by creating about 80 new pro-Reform peers. William IV originally balked at the proposal, which effectively threatened the opposition of the House of Lords, but at length relented.

Before the new peers were created, however, the Lords who opposed the bill admitted defeat and abstained from the vote, allowing the passage of the bill, the crisis damaged the political influence of the House of Lords but did not altogether end it. A vital reform was effected by the Lords themselves in 1868, when they changed their standing orders to abolish proxy voting, preventing Lords from voting without taking the trouble to attend,[19] over the course of the century the power of the Upper House were further eroded,[how?][citation needed] and the Commons gradually became the stronger House of Parliament.

Punch 1911 cartoon shows Asquith and Lloyd George preparing coronets for 500 new peers to threaten takeover of House of Lords

The status of the House of Lords returned to the forefront of debate after the election of a Liberal Government in 1906; in 1909, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, introduced into the House of Commons the "People's Budget", which proposed a land tax targeting wealthy landowners. The popular measure, however, was defeated in the heavily Conservative House of Lords.

Having made the powers of the House of Lords a primary campaign issue, the Liberals were narrowly re-elected in January 1910. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith then proposed that the powers of the House of Lords be severely curtailed. After a further general election in December 1910, and with an undertaking by King George V to create sufficient new Liberal peers to overcome Lords' opposition to the measure if necessary, the Asquith Government secured the passage of a bill to curtail the powers of the House of Lords.

The Parliament Act 1911 effectively abolished the power of the House of Lords to reject legislation, or to amend it in a way unacceptable to the House of Commons: most bills could be delayed for no more than three parliamentary sessions or two calendar years, it was not meant to be a permanent solution; more comprehensive reforms were planned. Neither party, however, pursued the matter with much enthusiasm, and the House of Lords remained primarily hereditary; in 1949, the Parliament Act reduced the delaying power of the House of Lords further to two sessions or one year.

In 1958, the predominantly hereditary nature of the House of Lords was changed by the Life Peerages Act 1958, which authorised the creation of life baronies, with no numerical limits, the number of Life Peers then gradually increased, though not at a constant rate.

The Labour Party had for most of the 20th century a commitment, based on the party's historic opposition to class privilege, to abolish the House of Lords, or at least expel the hereditary element; in 1968, the Labour Government of Harold Wilson attempted to reform the House of Lords by introducing a system under which hereditary peers would be allowed to remain in the House and take part in debate, but would be unable to vote. This plan, however, was defeated in the House of Commons by a coalition of traditionalist Conservatives (such as Enoch Powell), and Labour members who continued to advocate the outright abolition of the Upper House (such as Michael Foot).

When Michael Foot became leader of the Labour Party in 1980, abolition of the House of Lords became a part of the party's agenda; under his successor, Neil Kinnock, however, a reformed Upper House was proposed instead. In the meantime, the creation of hereditary peerages (except for members of the Royal Family) has been arrested, with the exception of three creations during the administration of the Conservative Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

Whilst some hereditary peers were at best apathetic, the Labour Party's clear commitments were not lost on Merlin Hanbury-Tracy, 7th Baron Sudeley, who for decades was considered an expert on the House of Lords. In December 1979 the Conservative Monday Club published his extensive paper entitled Lords Reform – Why tamper with the House of Lords? and in July 1980 The Monarchist carried another article by Sudeley entitled Why Reform or Abolish the House of Lords?.[20] In 1990 he wrote a further booklet for the Monday Club entitled The Preservation of the House of Lords.

There were no women sitting in the House of Lords until 1958, when a small number came into the chamber as a result of the Life Peerages Act 1958. One of these was Irene Curzon, 2nd Baroness Ravensdale, who had inherited her father's peerage in 1925 and was made a life peer to enable her to sit. After a campaign stretching back in some cases to the 1920s, another twelve women who held hereditary peerages in their own right were finally admitted by the Peerage Act 1963.

The Labour Party included in its 1997 general election Manifesto a commitment to remove the hereditary peerage from the House of Lords,[21] their subsequent election victory in 1997 under Tony Blair finally heralded the demise of the traditional House of Lords. The Labour Government introduced legislation to expel all hereditary peers from the Upper House as a first step in Lords reform, as a part of a compromise, however, it agreed to permit 92 hereditary peers to remain until the reforms were complete. Thus all but 92 hereditary peers were expelled under the House of Lords Act 1999 (see below for its provisions), making the House of Lords predominantly an appointed house.

Since 1999, however, no further reform has taken place, the Wakeham Commission proposed introducing a 20% elected element to the Lords, but this plan was widely criticised.[22] A Joint Committee was established in 2001 to resolve the issue, but it reached no conclusion and instead gave Parliament seven options to choose from (fully appointed, 20% elected, 40% elected, 50% elected, 60% elected, 80%, and fully elected); in a confusing series of votes in February 2003, all of these options were defeated, although the 80% elected option fell by just three votes in the Commons. Socialist MPs favouring outright abolition voted against all the options.[citation needed]

In 2005, a cross-party group of senior MPs (Kenneth Clarke, Paul Tyler, Tony Wright, George Young and Robin Cook) published a report proposing that 70% of members of the House of Lords should be elected — each member for a single long term — by the single transferable vote system. Most of the remainder were to be appointed by a Commission to ensure a mix of "skills, knowledge and experience", this proposal was also not implemented. A cross-party campaign initiative called "Elect the Lords" was set up to make the case for a predominantly elected Second Chamber in the run up to the 2005 general election.

At the 2005 election, the Labour Party proposed further reform of the Lords, but without specific details,[23] the Conservative Party, which had, prior to 1997, opposed any tampering with the House of Lords[citation needed], favoured an 80% elected Second Chamber, while the Liberal Democrats called for a fully elected Senate. During 2006, a cross-party committee discussed Lords reform, with the aim of reaching a consensus: its findings were published in early 2007.[24]

On 7 March 2007, members of the House of Commons voted ten times on a variety of alternative compositions for the upper chamber.[25] Outright abolition, a wholly appointed house, a 20% elected house, a 40% elected house, a 50% elected house and a 60% elected house were all defeated in turn. Finally the vote for an 80% elected chamber was won by 305 votes to 267, and the vote for a wholly elected chamber was won by an even greater margin: 337 to 224. Significantly this last vote represented an overall majority of MPs.[26]

Furthermore, examination of the names of MPs voting at each division shows that, of the 305 who voted for the 80% elected option, 211 went on to vote for the 100% elected option. Given that this vote took place after the vote on 80% – whose result was already known when the vote on 100% took place – this showed a clear preference for a fully elected upper house among those who voted for the only other option that passed, but this was nevertheless only an indicative vote and many political and legislative hurdles remained to be overcome for supporters of an elected second chamber. The House of Lords, soon after, rejected this proposal and voted for an entirely appointed House of Lords.[27]

In July 2008, Jack Straw, the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, introduced a white paper to the House of Commons proposing to replace the House of Lords with an 80–100% elected chamber, with one third being elected at each general election, for a term of approximately 12–15 years.[28] The white paper states that as the peerage would be totally separated from membership of the upper house, the name "House of Lords" would no longer be appropriate: It goes on to explain that there is cross-party consensus for the new chamber to be titled the "Senate of the United Kingdom"; however, to ensure the debate remains on the role of the upper house rather than its title, the white paper is neutral on the title of the new house.

On 30 November 2009, a Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords was agreed by them; certain amendments were agreed by them on 30 March 2010 and on 12 June 2014.[29] The scandal over expenses in the Commons was at its highest pitch only six months before, and the Labourite leadership under Janet Royall determined that something sympathetic should be done.[citation needed]

In Meg Russell's article "Is the House of Lords already reformed?", she states three essential features of a legitimate House of Lords.[30] The first is that it must have adequate powers over legislation to make the government think twice before making a decision, the House of Lords, she argues, currently has enough power to make it relevant. During Tony Blair’s first year, he was defeated 38 times in the Lords.[31] Secondly, as to the composition of the Lords, Meg Russell suggests that the composition must be distinct from the Commons, otherwise it would render the Lords useless, the third feature is the perceived legitimacy of the Lords. She writes, "In general legitimacy comes with election."[30][31]

If the Lords have a distinct and elected composition, this would probably come about through fixed term proportional representation. If this happens, then the perceived legitimacy of the Lords could arguably outweigh the legitimacy of the Commons, this would especially be the case if the House of Lords had been elected more recently than the House of Commons as it could be said to reflect the will of the people better than the Commons.[31]

In this scenario, there may well come a time when the Lords twice reject a Bill from the Commons and it is forced through, this would in turn trigger questions about the amount of power the Lords should have and there would be pressure for it to increase. This hypothetical process is known as the "circumnavigation of power theory",[31] it implies that it would never be in any government's interest to legitimise the Lords, as they would be forfeiting their own power.

The Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreed, after the 2010 general election, to outline clearly a provision for a wholly or mainly elected second chamber, elected by proportional representation, these proposals sparked a debate on 29 June 2010. As an interim measure, appointment of new peers would reflect the shares of the vote secured by the political parties in the last general election.

Detailed proposals for Lords reform, including a draft House of Lords Reform Bill, were published on 17 May 2011, these included a 300-member hybrid house, of whom 80% would be elected. A further 20% would be appointed, and reserve space would be included for some Church of England bishops. Under the proposals, members would also serve single non-renewable terms of 15 years. Former MPs would be allowed to stand for election to the Upper House, but members of the Upper House would not be immediately allowed to become MPs.

The upper chamber shall continue to be known as the House of Lords for legislative purposes.

The reformed House of Lords should have 300 members of whom 240 are "Elected Members" and 60 appointed "Independent Members". Up to 12 Church of England bishops may sit in the house as ex officio "Lords Spiritual".

Elected Members will serve a single, non-renewable term of 15 years.

Elections to the reformed Lords should take place at the same time as elections to the House of Commons.

Twenty Independent Members (a third) shall take their seats within the reformed house at the same time as elected members do so, and for the same 15-year term.

Independent Members will be appointed by the Queen after being proposed by the Prime Minister acting on advice of an Appointments Commission.

There will no longer be a link between the peerage system and membership of the upper house.

The current powers of the House of Lords would not change and the House of Commons shall retain its status as the primary House of Parliament.

The proposals were considered by a Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform made up of both MPs and Peers, which issued its final report on 23 April 2012, making the following suggestions:[citation needed]

The reformed House of Lords should have 450 members.

Party groupings, including the Crossbenchers, should choose which of their members are retained in the transition period, with the percentage of members allotted to each group based on their share of the peers with high attendance during a given period.

Up to 12 Lords Spiritual should be retained in a reformed House of Lords.

The size of the House of Lords has varied greatly throughout its history, from about 220 members in the early 1700s,[39] it increased to a record size of 1,330 in October 1999, before Lords reform reduced it to 669 by March 2000.[40]

In April 2011, a cross-party group of former leading politicians, including many senior members of the House of Lords, called on the Prime Minister David Cameron to stop creating new peers, he had created 117 new peers since becoming prime minister in May 2010, a faster rate of elevation than any PM in British history. The expansion occurred while his government had tried (in vain) to reduce the size of the House of Commons by 50 members, from 650 to 600.[41]

In August 2014, despite there being a seating capacity of only around 230[42] to 400[43] on the benches in the Lords chamber, the House had 774 active members (plus 54 who were not entitled to attend or vote, having been suspended or granted leave of absence). This made the House of Lords the largest parliamentary chamber in any democracy;[43] in August 2014, former Speaker of the House of CommonsBetty Boothroyd requested that “older peers should retire gracefully” to ease the overcrowding in the House of Lords. She also criticised successive prime ministers for filling the second chamber with “lobby fodder” in an attempt to help their policies become law, she made her remarks days before a new batch of peers were due to be created.[44]

In August 2015, following the creation of a further 45 peers in the Dissolution Honours, the total number of eligible members of the Lords increased to 826; in a report entitled Does size matter? the BBC said: "Increasingly, yes. Critics argue the House of Lords is the second largest legislature after the Chinese National People's Congress and dwarfs Upper Houses in other bi-cameral democracies such as the United States (100 senators), France (348 senators), Australia (76 senators) and India (250 members), the Lords is also larger than the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea (687 members). [… ] Peers grumble that there is not enough room to accommodate all of their colleagues in the Chamber, where there are only about 400 seats, and say they are constantly jostling for space – particularly during high-profile sittings", but added, "On the other hand, defenders of the Lords say that it does a vital job scrutinising legislation, a lot of which has come its way from the Commons in recent years".[45]

The House of Lords does not control the term of the Prime Minister or of the Government.[46] Only the Lower House may force the Prime Minister to resign or call elections by passing a motion of no-confidence or by withdrawing supply. Thus, the House of Lords' oversight of the government is limited.

Most Cabinet ministers are from the House of Commons rather than the House of Lords; in particular, all Prime Ministers since 1902 have been members of the Lower House.[47] (Alec Douglas-Home, who became Prime Minister in 1963 whilst still an Earl, disclaimed his peerage and was elected to the Commons soon after his term began.) In recent history, it has been very rare for major cabinet positions (except Lord Chancellor and Leader of the House of Lords) to have been filled by peers.

The House of Lords remains a source for junior ministers and members of government. Like the House of Commons, the Lords also has a Government Chief Whip as well as several Junior Whips. Where a government department is not represented by a minister in the Lords or one is not available, government whips will act as spokesmen for them.[48]

Legislation, with the exception of money bills, may be introduced in either House.

The House of Lords debates legislation, and has power to amend or reject bills. However, the power of the Lords to reject a bill passed by the House of Commons is severely restricted by the Parliament Acts. Under those Acts, certain types of bills may be presented for the Royal Assent without the consent of the House of Lords (i.e. the Commons can override the Lords' veto). The House of Lords cannot delay a money bill (a bill that, in the view of the Speaker of the House of Commons, solely concerns national taxation or public funds) for more than one month.

Other public bills cannot be delayed by the House of Lords for more than two parliamentary sessions, or one calendar year, these provisions, however, only apply to public bills that originate in the House of Commons, and cannot have the effect of extending a parliamentary term beyond five years. A further restriction is a constitutional convention known as the Salisbury Convention, which means that the House of Lords does not oppose legislation promised in the Government's election manifesto.

By a custom that prevailed even before the Parliament Acts, the House of Lords is further restrained insofar as financial bills are concerned, the House of Lords may neither originate a bill concerning taxation or Supply (supply of treasury or exchequer funds), nor amend a bill so as to insert a taxation or Supply-related provision. (The House of Commons, however, often waives its privileges and allows the Upper House to make amendments with financial implications.) Moreover, the Upper House may not amend any Supply Bill. The House of Lords formerly maintained the absolute power to reject a bill relating to revenue or Supply, but this power was curtailed by the Parliament Acts, as aforementioned.

The Lords' judicial functions originated from the ancient role of the Curia Regis as a body that addressed the petitions of the King's subjects, the functions were exercised not by the whole House, but by a committee of "Law Lords". The bulk of the House's judicial business was conducted by the twelve Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, who were specifically appointed for this purpose under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876.

The judicial functions could also be exercised by Lords of Appeal (other members of the House who happened to have held high judicial office). No Lord of Appeal in Ordinary or Lord of Appeal could sit judicially beyond the age of seventy-five, the judicial business of the Lords was supervised by the Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and their deputy, the Second Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.

The jurisdiction of the House of Lords extended, in civil and in criminal cases, to appeals from the courts of England and Wales, and of Northern Ireland, from Scotland, appeals were possible only in civil cases; Scotland's High Court of Justiciary is the highest court in criminal matters. The House of Lords was not the United Kingdom's only court of last resort; in some cases, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council performs such a function. The jurisdiction of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom, however, is relatively restricted; it encompasses appeals from ecclesiastical courts, disputes under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, and a few other minor matters. Issues related to devolution were transferred from the Privy Council to the Supreme Court in 2009.

The twelve Law Lords did not all hear every case; rather, after World War II cases were heard by panels known as Appellate Committees, each of which normally consisted of five members (selected by the Senior Lord). An Appellate Committee hearing an important case could consist of more than five members. Though Appellate Committees met in separate committee rooms, judgement was given in the Lords Chamber itself. No further appeal lay from the House of Lords, although the House of Lords could refer a "preliminary question" to the European Court of Justice in cases involving an element of European Union law, and a case could be brought at the European Court of Human Rights if the House of Lords did not provide a satisfactory remedy in cases where the European Convention on Human Rights was relevant.

A distinct judicial function—one in which the whole House used to participate—is that of trying impeachments. Impeachments were brought by the House of Commons, and tried in the House of Lords; a conviction required only a majority of the Lords voting. Impeachments, however, are to all intents and purposes obsolete; the last impeachment was that of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, in 1806.

Similarly, the House of Lords was once the court that tried peers charged with high treason or felony, the House would be presided over not by the Lord Chancellor, but by the Lord High Steward, an official especially appointed for the occasion of the trial. If Parliament was not in session, then peers could be tried in a separate court, known as the Lord High Steward's Court. Only peers, their wives, and their widows (unless remarried) were entitled to such trials; the Lords Spiritual were tried in ecclesiastical courts. In 1948, the right of peers to be tried in such special courts was abolished; now, they are tried in the regular courts.[49] The last such trial in the House was of Edward Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford, in 1935. An illustrative dramatisation circa 1928 of a trial of a peer (the fictional Duke of Denver) on a charge of murder (a felony) is portrayed in the 1972 BBC Television adaption of Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mystery Clouds of Witness.

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 resulted in the creation of a separate Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, to which the judicial function of the House of Lords, and some of the judicial functions of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, were transferred; in addition, the office of Lord Chancellor was reformed by the act, removing his ability to act as both a government minister and a judge. This was motivated in part by concerns about the historical admixture of legislative, judicial, and executive power, the new Supreme Court is located at Middlesex Guildhall.

Members of the House of Lords who sit by virtue of their ecclesiastical offices are known as Lords Spiritual.[50] Formerly, the Lords Spiritual were the majority in the English House of Lords,[51] comprising the church's archbishops, (diocesan) bishops, abbots, and those priors who were entitled to wear a mitre. After the English Reformation's highpoint in 1539, only the archbishops and bishops continued to attend, as the Dissolution of the Monasteries had just disproved of[clarification needed] and suppressed the positions of abbot and prior. In 1642, during the few Lords' gatherings convened during English Interregnum which saw periodic war, the Lords Spiritual were excluded altogether, but they returned under the Clergy Act 1661.

The current Lords Spiritual represent only the Church of England. Bishops of the Church of Scotland historically sat in the Parliament of Scotland but were finally excluded in 1689 (after a number of previous exclusions) when the Church of Scotland became permanently Presbyterian. There are no longer bishops in the Church of Scotland in the traditional sense of the word, and that Church has never sent members to sit in the Westminster House of Lords. The Church of Ireland did obtain representation in the House of Lords after the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801.

Of the Church of Ireland's ecclesiastics, four (one archbishop and three bishops) were to sit at any one time, with the members rotating at the end of every parliamentary session (which normally lasted about one year), the Church of Ireland, however, was disestablished in 1871, and thereafter ceased to be represented by Lords Spiritual. Bishops of Welsh sees in the Church of England originally sat in the House of Lords (after 1847, only if their seniority within the Church entitled them to), but the Church in Wales ceased to be a part of the Church of England in 1920 and was simultaneously disestablished in Wales.[54] Accordingly, bishops of the Church in Wales were no longer eligible to be appointed to the House as bishops of the Church of England, but those already appointed remained.

There have been no Roman Catholic clergymen appointed, though it was rumoured that Cardinal Basil Hume and his successor Cormac Murphy O'Connor were offered peerages, by James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair respectively, but declined. Hume later accepted the Order of Merit, a personal appointment of the Queen, shortly before his death. O'Connor said he had his maiden speech ready, but Roman Catholics who have received Holy Orders are prohibited by Canon Law from holding major offices connected with any government other than the Holy See.

Former Archbishops of Canterbury, having reverted to the status of bishop but who are no longer diocesans, are invariably given life peerages and sit as Lords Temporal.

By custom at least one of the Bishops reads prayers in each legislative day (a role taken by the chaplain in the Commons),[51] they often speak in debates; in 2004 Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, opened a debate into sentencing legislation.[51]Measures (proposed laws of the Church of England) must be put before the Lords, and the Lords Spiritual have a role in ensuring that this takes place.[51]

Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Lords Temporal have been the most numerous group in the House of Lords. Unlike the Lords Spiritual, they may be publicly partisan, aligning themselves with one or another of the political parties that dominate the House of Commons. Publicly non-partisan Lords are called crossbenchers. Originally, the Lords Temporal included several hundred hereditary peers (that is, those whose peerages may be inherited), who ranked variously as dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons (as well as Scottish Lords of Parliament). Such hereditary dignities can be created by the Crown; in modern times this is done on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day (except in the case of members of the Royal Family).

Holders of Scottish and Irish peerages were not always permitted to sit in the Lords. When Scotland united with England to form Great Britain in 1707, it was provided that the Scottish hereditary peers would only be able to elect 16 representative peers to sit in the House of Lords; the term of a representative was to extend until the next general election. A similar provision was enacted when Ireland merged with Great Britain in 1801 to form the United Kingdom; the Irish peers were allowed to elect 28 representatives, who were to retain office for life. Elections for Irish representatives ended in 1922, when most of Ireland became an independent state; elections for Scottish representatives ended with the passage of the Peerage Act 1963, under which all Scottish peers obtained seats in the Upper House.

In 1999, the Labour government brought forward the House of Lords Act removing the right of several hundred hereditary peers to sit in the House, the Act provided, as a measure intended to be temporary, that 92 people would continue to sit in the Lords by virtue of hereditary peerages, and this is still in effect.

The number of peers to be chosen by a political group reflects the proportion of hereditary peers that belonged to that group (see current composition below) in 1999. When an elected hereditary peer dies, a by-election is held, with a variant of the Alternative Vote system being used. If the recently deceased hereditary peer had been elected by the whole House, then so is his or her replacement; a hereditary peer elected by a specific political group (including the non-aligned crossbenchers) is replaced by a vote of the hereditary peers already elected to the Lords belonging to that political group (whether elected by that group or by the whole house).

Until 2009, the Lords Temporal also included the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, a group of individuals appointed to the House of Lords so that they could exercise its judicial functions. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, more commonly known as Law Lords, were first appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, they were selected by the Prime Minister of the day, but were formally appointed by the Sovereign. A Lord of Appeal in Ordinary had to retire at the age of 70, or, if his or her term was extended by the government, at the age of 75; after reaching such an age, the Law Lord could not hear any further cases in the House of Lords.

The number of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (excluding those who were no longer able to hear cases because of age restrictions) was limited to twelve, but could be changed by statutory instrument. By a convention of the House, Lords of Appeal in Ordinary did not take part in debates on new legislation, so as to maintain judicial independence. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary held their seats in the House of Lords for life, remaining as members even after reaching the judicial retirement age of 70 or 75. Former Lord Chancellors and holders of other high judicial office could also sit as Law Lords under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, although in practice this right was only rarely exercised.

Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary when the Act came into effect in 2009 became judges of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and were then barred from sitting or voting in the House of Lords until they had retired as judges. One of the main justifications for the new Supreme Court was to establish a separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislature, it is therefore unlikely that future appointees to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will be made Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.

The largest group of Lords Temporal, and indeed of the whole House, are life peers. Life peerages rank only as barons or baronesses, and are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958. Like all other peers, life peers are created by the Sovereign, who acts on the advice of the Prime Minister or the House of Lords Appointments Commission. By convention, however, the Prime Minister allows leaders of other parties to nominate some life peers, so as to maintain a political balance in the House of Lords. Moreover, some non-party life peers (the number being determined by the Prime Minister) are nominated by the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission.

In 2000, the government announced it would set up an Independent Appointments Commission, under Dennis, Lord Stevenson of Coddenham, to select fifteen so-called "people's peers" for life peerages. However, when the choices were announced in April 2001, from a list of 3,000 applicants, the choices were treated with criticism in the media, as all were distinguished in their field, and none were "ordinary people" as some had originally hoped.[56]

Several different qualifications apply for membership of the House of Lords. No person may sit in the House of Lords if under the age of 21.[57] Furthermore, only United Kingdom, Irish and Commonwealth citizens may sit in the House of Lords,[58] the nationality restrictions were previously more stringent: under the Act of Settlement 1701, and prior to the British Nationality Act 1948, only natural-born subjects qualified.

Additionally, some bankruptcy-related restrictions apply to members of the Upper House. A person may not sit in the House of Lords if he or she is the subject of a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (applicable in England and Wales only), or if he or she is adjudged bankrupt (in Northern Ireland), or if his or her estate is sequestered (in Scotland). A final restriction bars an individual convicted of high treason from sitting in the House of Lords until completing his or her full term of imprisonment. An exception applies, however, if the individual convicted of high treason receives a full pardon. Note that an individual serving a prison sentence for an offence other than high treason is not automatically disqualified.

Women were excluded from the House of Lords until the Life Peerages Act 1958,[59] passed to address the declining number of active members, made possible the creation of peerages for life. Women were immediately eligible and four were among the first life peers appointed. However, hereditary peeresses continued to be excluded until the passage of the Peerage Act 1963,[60] since the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999,[61] hereditary peeresses remain eligible for election to the Upper House; there is one (Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar) among the 90 hereditary peers who continue to sit.

The Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925[62] made it illegal for a peerage, or other honour, to be bought or sold. Nonetheless, there have been repeated allegations that life peerages (and thus membership of the House of Lords) have been made available to major political donors in exchange for donations, the most prominent case, the 2006 Cash for Honours scandal, saw a police investigation, with no charges being brought. A 2015 study found that of 303 people nominated for peerages in the period 2005–14, a total of 211 were former senior figures within politics (including former MPs), or were non-political appointments. Of the remaining 92 political appointments from outside public life, 27 had made significant donations to political parties, the authors concluded firstly that nominees from outside public life were much more likely to have made large gifts than peers nominated after prior political or public service. They also found that significant donors to parties were far more likely to be nominated for peerages than other party members.[63]

Traditionally there was no mechanism by which members could resign or be removed from the House of Lords (compare the situation as regards resignation from the House of Commons). The Peerage Act 1963 permitted a person to disclaim their newly inherited peerage (within certain time limits); this meant that such a person could effectively renounce their membership of the Lords. This might be done in order to remain or become qualified to sit in the House of Commons, as in the case of Tony Benn (formerly the second Viscount Stansgate), who had campaigned for such a change.

The House of Lords Reform Act 2014[64] made provision for members' resignation from the House, removal for non-attendance, and automatic expulsion upon conviction for a serious criminal offence (if resulting in a jail sentence of at least one year); in June 2015, under the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015,[65] the House's Standing Orders may provide for the expulsion or suspension of a member upon a resolution of the House.

Traditionally the House of Lords did not elect its own speaker, unlike the House of Commons; rather, the ex officio presiding officer was the Lord Chancellor. With the passage of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the post of Lord Speaker was created, a position to which a peer is elected by the House and subsequently appointed by the Crown, the first Lord Speaker, elected on 4 May 2006, was Helene Hayman, a former Labour peer. As the Speaker is expected to be an impartial presiding officer, Hayman resigned from the Labour Party;[66] in 2011, Frances D'Souza was elected as the second Lord Speaker, replacing Hayman in September 2011.[67] D'Souza was in turn succeeded by Norman Fowler in September 2016, the incumbent Lord Speaker.

This reform of the post of Lord Chancellor was made due to the perceived constitutional anomalies inherent in the role, the Lord Chancellor was not only the Speaker of the House of Lords, but also a member of the Cabinet; his or her department, formerly the Lord Chancellor's Department, is now called the Ministry of Justice. The Lord Chancellor is no longer the head of the judiciary of England and Wales. Hitherto, the Lord Chancellor was part of all three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.

The overlap of the legislative and executive roles is a characteristic of the Westminster system, as the entire cabinet consists of members of the House of Commons or the House of Lords; however, in June 2003, the Blair Government announced its intention to abolish the post of Lord Chancellor because of the office's mixed executive and judicial responsibilities. The abolition of the office was rejected by the House of Lords, and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 was thus amended to preserve the office of Lord Chancellor, the Act no longer guarantees that the office holder of Lord Chancellor is the presiding officer of the House of Lords, and therefore allows the House of Lords to elect a speaker of their own.

Charles Pepys as Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor wore black and gold robes whilst presiding over the House of Lords.

The Lord Speaker may be replaced as presiding officer by one of his or her deputies, the Chairman of Committees, the Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees, and several Chairmen are all deputies to the Lord Speaker, and are all appointed by the House of Lords itself at the beginning of each session. By custom, the Crown appoints each Chairman, Principal Deputy Chairman and Deputy Chairman to the additional office of Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords.[68] There was previously no legal requirement that the Lord Chancellor or a Deputy Speaker be a member of the House of Lords (though the same has long been customary).

Whilst presiding over the House of Lords, the Lord Chancellor traditionally wore ceremonial black and gold robes. Robes of black and gold are now worn by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in the House of Commons, on ceremonial occasions, this is no longer a requirement for the Lord Speaker except for State occasions outside of the chamber. The Speaker or Deputy Speaker sits on the Woolsack, a large red seat stuffed with wool, at the front of the Lords Chamber.

When the House of Lords resolves itself into committee (see below), the Chairman of Committees or a Deputy Chairman of Committees presides, not from the Woolsack, but from a chair at the Table of the House, the presiding officer has little power compared to the Speaker of the House of Commons. He or she only acts as the mouthpiece of the House, performing duties such as announcing the results of votes, this is because, unlike in the House of Commons where all statements are directed to "Mr/Madam Speaker", in the House of Lords they are directed to "My Lords"; i.e., the entire body of the House.

The Lord Speaker or Deputy Speaker cannot determine which members may speak, or discipline members for violating the rules of the House; these measures may be taken only by the House itself. Unlike the politically neutral Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Chancellor and Deputy Speakers originally remained members of their respective parties, and were permitted to participate in debate; however, this is no longer true of the new role of Lord Speaker.

Another officer of the body is the Leader of the House of Lords, a peer selected by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the House is responsible for steering Government bills through the House of Lords, and is a member of the Cabinet. The Leader also advises the House on proper procedure when necessary, but such advice is merely informal, rather than official and binding. A Deputy Leader is also appointed by the Prime Minister, and takes the place of an absent or unavailable leader.

The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk and officer of the House of Lords (but is not a member of the House itself), the Clerk, who is appointed by the Crown, advises the presiding officer on the rules of the House, signs orders and official communications, endorses bills, and is the keeper of the official records of both Houses of Parliament. Moreover, the Clerk of the Parliaments is responsible for arranging by-elections of hereditary peers when necessary, the deputies of the Clerk of the Parliaments (the Clerk Assistant and the Reading Clerk) are appointed by the Lord Speaker, subject to the House's approval.

The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod is also an officer of the House; he takes his title from the symbol of his office, a black rod. Black Rod (as the Gentleman Usher is normally known) is responsible for ceremonial arrangements, is in charge of the House's doorkeepers, and may (upon the order of the House) take action to end disorder or disturbance in the Chamber. Black Rod also holds the office of Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Lords, and in this capacity attends upon the Lord Speaker, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod's duties may be delegated to the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod or to the Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms.

The House of Lords and the House of Commons assemble in the Palace of Westminster, the Lords Chamber is lavishly decorated, in contrast with the more modestly furnished Commons Chamber. Benches in the Lords Chamber are coloured red, the Woolsack is at the front of the Chamber; the Government sit on benches on the right of the Woolsack, while members of the Opposition sit on the left. Crossbenchers, sit on the benches immediately opposite the Woolsack.[69]

The Lords Chamber is the site of many formal ceremonies, the most famous of which is the State Opening of Parliament, held at the beginning of each new parliamentary session, during the State Opening, the Sovereign, seated on the Throne in the Lords Chamber and in the presence of both Houses of Parliament, delivers a speech outlining the Government's agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session.

In the House of Lords, members need not seek the recognition of the presiding officer before speaking, as is done in the House of Commons. If two or more Lords simultaneously rise to speak, the House decides which one is to be heard by acclamation, or, if necessary, by voting on a motion. Often, however, the Leader of the House will suggest an order, which is thereafter generally followed. Speeches in the House of Lords are addressed to the House as a whole ("My Lords") rather than to the presiding officer alone (as is the custom in the Lower House). Members may not refer to each other in the second person (as "you"), but rather use third person forms such as "the noble Duke", "the noble Earl", "the noble Lord", "my noble friend", "The most Reverend Primate", etc.

Each member may make no more than one speech on a motion, except that the mover of the motion may make one speech at the beginning of the debate and another at the end. Speeches are not subject to any time limits in the House; however, the House may put an end to a speech by approving a motion "that the noble Lord be no longer heard". It is also possible for the House to end the debate entirely, by approving a motion "that the Question be now put", this procedure is known as Closure, and is extremely rare.

Once all speeches on a motion have concluded, or Closure invoked, the motion may be put to a vote, the House first votes by voice vote; the Lord Speaker or Deputy Speaker puts the question, and the Lords respond either "content" (in favour of the motion) or "not content" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote, but if his assessment is challenged by any Lord, a recorded vote known as a division follows.

Members of the House enter one of two lobbies (the content lobby or the not-content lobby) on either side of the Chamber, where their names are recorded by clerks, at each lobby are two Tellers (themselves members of the House) who count the votes of the Lords. The Lord Speaker may not take part in the vote. Once the division concludes, the Tellers provide the results thereof to the presiding officer, who then announces them to the House.

If there is an equality of votes, the motion is decided according to the following principles: legislation may proceed in its present form, unless there is a majority in favour of amending or rejecting it; any other motions are rejected, unless there is a majority in favour of approving it. The quorum of the House of Lords is just three members for a general or procedural vote, and 30 members for a vote on legislation. If fewer than three or 30 members (as appropriate) are present, the division is invalid.

By contrast with the House of Commons, the House of Lords has not until recently had an established procedure for putting sanctions on its members. When a cash for influence scandal was referred to the Committee of Privileges in January 2009, the Leader of the House of Lords also asked the Privileges Committee to report on what sanctions the House had against its members,[70] after seeking advice from the Attorney General for England and Wales and the former Lord Chancellor James, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, the committee decided that the House "possessed an inherent power" to suspend errant members, although not to withhold a writ of summons nor to expel a member permanently.[71] When the House subsequently suspended Peter, Lord Truscott and Tom, Lord Taylor of Blackburn for their role in the scandal, they were the first to meet this fate since 1642.[72]

Recent changes have expanded the disciplinary powers of the House. Section 3 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 now provides that any member of the House of Lords convicted of a crime and sentenced to imprisonment for more than one year loses their seat, the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 allows the House to set up procedures to suspend, and to expel, its members.

There are two motions which have grown up through custom and practice and which govern questionable conduct within the House, they are brought into play by a member standing up, possibly intervening on another member, and moving the motion without notice. When the debate is getting excessively heated, it is open to a member to move "that the Standing Order on Asperity of Speech be read by the Clerk", the motion can be debated,[73] but if agreed by the House, the Clerk of the Parliaments will read out Standing Order 33 which provides "That all personal, sharp, or taxing speeches be forborn".[74] The Journals of the House of Lords record only four instances on which the House has ordered the Standing Order to be read since the procedure was invented in 1871.[75]

For more serious problems with an individual Lord, the option is available to move "That the noble Lord be no longer heard", this motion also is debatable, and the debate which ensues has sometimes offered a chance for the member whose conduct has brought it about to come to order so that the motion can be withdrawn. If the motion is passed, its effect is to prevent the member from continuing their speech on the motion then under debate,[76] the Journals identify eleven occasions on which this motion has been moved since 1884; four were eventually withdrawn, one was voted down, and six were passed.[77]

In 1958, to counter criticism that some peers only appeared at major decisions in the House and thereby particular votes were swayed, the Standing Orders of the House of Lords were enhanced.[78] Peers who did not wish to attend meetings regularly or were prevented by ill health, age or further reasons, were now able to request Leave of Absence,[79] during the granted time a peer is expected not to visit the House's meetings until either its expiration or termination, announced at least a month prior to their return.[80]

Members of the House of Lords can, since 2010, opt to receive a £300 per day attendance allowance, plus limited travel expenses. Peers can elect to receive a reduced attendance allowance of £150 per day instead. Prior to 2010 peers from outside London could claim an overnight allowance of £174.[81][82]

Unlike in the House of Commons, when the term committee is used to describe a stage of a bill, this committee does not take the form of a public bill committee, but what is described as Committee of the Whole House, it is made up of all Members of the House of Lords allowing any Member to contribute to debates if he or she chooses to do so and allows for more flexible rules of procedure. It is presided over by the Chairman of Committees.[83]

The term committee is also used to describe Grand Committee, where the same rules of procedure apply as in the main chamber, except that no divisions may take place, for this reason, business that is discussed in Grand Committee is usually uncontroversial and likely to be agreed unanimously.[84]

Public bills may also be committed to pre-legislative committees. A pre-legislative Committee is specifically constituted for a particular bill, these committees are established in advance of the bill being laid before either the House of Lords or the House of Commons and can take evidence from the public. Such committees are rare and do not replace any of the usual stages of a bill, including committee stage.[85]

The House of Lords also has 15 Select Committees. Typically, these are sessional committees, meaning that their members are appointed by the House at the beginning of each session, and continue to serve until the next parliamentary session begins; in practice, these are often permanent committees, which are re-established during every session. These committees are typically empowered to make reports to the House "from time to time", that is, whenever they wish. Other committees are ad-hoc committees, which are set up to investigate a specific issue. When they are set up by a motion in the House, the motion will set a deadline by which the Committee must report, after this date, the Committee will cease to exist unless it is granted an extension. One example of this is the Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change,[86] the House of Lords may appoint a chairman for a committee; if it does not do so, the Chairman of Committees or a Deputy Chairman of Committees may preside instead. Most of the Select Committees are also granted the power to co-opt members, such as the European Union Committee,[87] the primary function of Select Committees is to scrutinise and investigate Government activities; to fulfil these aims, they are permitted to hold hearings and collect evidence. Bills may be referred to Select Committees, but are more often sent to the Committee of the Whole House and Grand Committees.

The committee system of the House of Lords also includes several Domestic Committees, which supervise or consider the House's procedures and administration. One of the Domestic Committees is the Committee of Selection, which is responsible for assigning members to many of the House's other committees.

There are currently 780 sitting members of the House of Lords.[1] An additional 25 Lords are ineligible from participation, including eight peers who are constitutionally disqualified as members of the Judiciary.[88]

The House of Lords Act 1999 allocated 75 of the 92 hereditary peers to the parties based on the proportion of hereditary peers that belonged to that party in 1999:[57]

Fifteen hereditary peers are elected by the whole House, and the remaining hereditary peers are the two royal office-holders, the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain, both of whom are currently on leave of absence.[1]

A report in 2007 stated that many members of the Lords (particularly the life peers) do not attend regularly; the average daily attendance was around 408.[90]

While the number of hereditary peers is limited to 92, and that of Lords spiritual to 26, there is no maximum limit to the number of life peers who may be members of the House of Lords at any time.

^Feldman, David (31 March 2011), The Constitutional Reform Process(Written Evidence submitted to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution), Cambridge, United Kingdom: Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, p. 21, retrieved 29 January 2012

^Reidy, Aisling; Russell, Meg (June 1999), Second Chambers as Constitutional Guardians and Protectors of Human Rights, London: The Constitution Unit, School of Public Policy, University College London, p. 2

1.
Upper house
–
An upper house, sometimes called a Senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the house is usually smaller. Examples of upper houses in countries include the UKs House of Lords, Canadas Senate, Indias Rajya Sabha, Russias Federation Council, Irelands Seanad, Germanys Bundesrat, a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral. An upper house is different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects, Powers, In a parliamentary system. Therefore, in countries the Upper House votes on only limited legislative matters. Cannot vote a motion of no confidence against the government, while the house always can. In a presidential system, It may have equal or nearly equal power with the lower house and it may have specific powers not granted to the lower house. For example, It may give advice and consent to some executive decisions and it may have the sole power to try impeachments against officials of the executive, following enabling resolutions passed by the lower house. Status, In some countries, its members are not popularly elected, membership may be indirect and its members may be elected with a different voting system than that used to elect the lower house. Less populated states, provinces, or administrative divisions may be represented in the upper house than in the lower house. Members terms may be longer than in the house. Members may be elected in portions, for staggered terms, rather than all at one time, in some countries, the upper house cannot be dissolved at all, or can be dissolved only in more limited circumstances than the lower house. It typically has fewer members or seats than the lower house and it has usually a higher age of candidacy than the lower house. In parliamentary systems the upper house is seen as an advisory or revising chamber. Some or all of the restrictions are often placed on upper houses. No absolute veto of proposed legislation, though suspensive vetoes are permitted in some states, in countries where it can veto legislation, it may not be able to amend the proposals. A reduced or even absent role in initiating legislation, additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office, a position which is known as perfect bicameralism or equal bicameralism. An example is the British House of Lords, bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month

2.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
–
It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the boroughs of the British capital, the parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature, prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster in London, most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either House. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The UK parliament and its institutions have set the pattern for many throughout the world. However, John Bright – who coined the epithet – used it with reference to a rather than a parliament. In theory, the UKs supreme legislative power is vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801, by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union. The principle of responsibility to the lower House did not develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons were elected in an electoral system. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act 1832, No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive. The supremacy of the British House of Commons was established in the early 20th century, in 1909, the Commons passed the so-called Peoples Budget, which made numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners, on the basis of the Budgets popularity and the Lords consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in 1910. Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, in the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at Westminster

3.
Lord Speaker
–
The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons, until July 2006, the role of presiding officer in the House of Lords was undertaken by the Lord Chancellor. Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the position of the Speaker of the House of Lords became a separate office, allowing the position to be held by someone other than the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor continued to act as speaker of the House of Lords in a period after the Act was passed while the House of Lords considered new arrangements about its speakership. The current Lord Speaker is Lord Fowler, following their recommendations, the new speaker was named Lord Speaker, and the number of deputy speakers has fallen from 25 to twelve. Lord Speaker was chosen in part because it was already in use in the Standing Orders, the role has less power than the Speaker of the House of Commons. The House of Lords is largely self-governing, and its presiding officer has taken a less active role in debates than the Speaker of the House of Commons. In practice, the task of the Lord Speaker in the Chamber is to formally put the question before a vote, to announce the result of any vote. Furthermore, the Lord Speaker may end the adjournment of the House during a public emergency, the debate was renewed with proposals put forward by a Leaders Group led by Alastair Goodlad. The proposals include allowing the Lord Speaker, during Question Time and ministerial statements, the Leader of the House, a Government minister, currently handles this task. The decision of who should speak would ultimately remain with the House, a similar proposal was made by the committee that initially discussed the new office. A further option would allow the Speaker even more power during Question Time, the Groups report has yet to be approved. Like the Speaker of the House of Commons, but unlike the Lord Chancellor, on election, the Lord Speaker resigns the party whip or crossbench group and certain outside interests to concentrate on being an impartial presiding officer. The Lord Speaker is elected for a term of five years. The election is conducted using the Alternative Vote method, under amendments made on 3 May 2011, elections must be held by 15 July of final year of a term, with the new term beginning on 1 September. When Helene Hayman was elected the first Lord Speaker, the Clerk of the Parliaments announced the result, Hayman then replaced the Lord Chancellor on the Woolsack. By Royal Warrant on 4 July 2006, the Queen declared that the Lord Speaker would have rank, the Lord Speaker earns a salary of £101,038, less than the Speaker of the House of Commons. The Lord Speaker, like the Speaker of the House of Commons, is entitled to a grace, when presiding over debates, the Lord Speaker sits on the Woolsack

4.
Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler
–
Peter Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler, PC is a British politician who was a member of Margaret Thatchers ministry. He is currently the Lord Speaker, having assumed office at the beginning of September 2016, after serving as Shadow Minister of Transport, he was appointed Minister of Transport in 1979, being responsible for making seat belts compulsory. Later, as Secretary of State for Health and Social Services and he resigned from the cabinet as Employment Secretary, and was knighted in 1990. He was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1992 to 1994, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Transport, in 2001, he was made a Conservative life peer as Baron Fowler. He then became a journalist, and worked on The Times, Fowler was elected for Nottingham South in 1970, after the seat was abolished, he switched to Sutton Coldfield at the February 1974 election. During the mid-1970s Fowler was shadow Minister of Transport, upon Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister in 1979, she did not immediately appoint Fowler to her Cabinet, explaining, we were short of one place. As a result, Norman Fowler, as Minister of State at Transport, was not able to be an member of the Cabinet. As Secretary of State for Transport, Fowler drove through Lord Nugents 1981 bill to make seat belts compulsory, as Secretary of State for Health and Social Security in 1986, Fowler implemented the first official drive to educate the British public to the dangers of AIDS. Edwina Currie and John Major both served him as junior ministers. Fowler later resigned from the cabinet as Employment Secretary in January 1990, the expression later became a smokescreen for politicians who had quit high-profile roles for slightly more dark or controversial reasons. Following his resignation from the frontbench, Fowler was knighted in 1990, in 2001, he stepped down as a Member of Parliament. After standing down from the House of Commons, he was made a Conservative Lord Temporal as Baron Fowler, in 2003, he proposed that the European Union should appoint a high-level coordinator with ambassadorial rank to deal with the AIDS epidemic. In 2006, he chaired a House of Lords select committee which criticised the use of the licence fee. His book, A Political Suicide, was published in 2008, in 2016, he was elected as Lord Speaker. He is the first male holder of such a title, though similar responsibilities were held by men prior to the passage of the Constitutional Reform Act and he has stated that he favours reducing the House of Lords to 600 members. He has been involved in industry, having been on the board of directors of several companies. He is non-executive chairman of Aggregate Industries plc and he is a member of the National Union of Journalists. Fowler demanded an independent inquiry into the phone hacking inquiry on 7 July 2011 and he said that the UK was faced by one of the biggest scandals affecting the press in living memory

5.
Leader of the House of Lords
–
The Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The role is held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, usually one of the sinecure offices of Lord President of the Council. Unless the Leader is also a minister, being Leader constitutes the bulk of his or her government responsibilities. The Office of the Leader of the House of Lords is a ministerial department, though the Leader of the House is a member of the cabinet and remains a partisan figure, he or she also has responsibilities to the House as a whole. In contrast to the House of Commons, where proceedings are controlled by the Speaker, proceedings in the Lords are controlled by peers themselves, under the rules set out in the Standing Orders. The Leader is often called upon to advise on procedures and points of order, however, like the Lord Speaker, the Leader of the House has no power to rule on points of order or to intervene during an inappropriate speech. Those functions were transferred to the Lord Speaker, however, it may have been used as early as 1689, applied to George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, when he was Speaker of the House of Lords during the Convention Parliament of that year. The role developed during the first quarter of the century, at the same time as the role of Prime Minister. It was therefore necessary for a member of the government to take responsibility for steering government legislation through each House, the Earl of Sunderland, initiated aspects of the role during the Whig Junta under Queen Anne. Sunderland and the other Whigs were dismissed from office in reaction to their co-ordination of government matters, Sunderland returned to power under George I, as Lord Privy Seal. When the Prime Minister sat in the House of Lords, which was common until the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Prime Minister sat in the Commons, the position of Leader of the Lords was often held by the Foreign Secretary or Colonial Secretary. In some coalition governments, it was held by the party leader who was not Prime Minister, since the end of the Marquess of Salisburys last government, in 1902, the position clearly exists in its own right as a member of the cabinet. The first female Leader of the Lords was Janet Young, Baroness Young in 1981–1983, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury served as Leader of the House of Lords from 1885 to 1886, from 1886 to 1892 and from 1895 to 1902. His son James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury served as Leader from 1925 to 1929 and his grandson, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, served as Leader from 1994 to 1997, as Viscount Cranborne, again by means of a writ of acceleration. Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham served as Leader of the House of Lords from 1931 to 1935 and his son Quintin Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham served as Leader from 1960 to 1963. Because the post is a one and not a ministerial office in its own right, it is not always included in official lists of government offices. This can make it difficult to determine who the Leader of the House of Lords was in a particular ministry, House of Lords Leader of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Lords Official site

6.
Conservative Party (UK)
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The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently the party, having won a majority of seats in the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. The partys leader, Theresa May, is serving as Prime Minister. It is the largest party in government with 8,702 councillors. The Conservative Party is one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, the other being its modern rival. The Conservative Partys platform involves support for market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defence, deregulation. In the 1920s, the Liberal vote greatly diminished and the Labour Party became the Conservatives main rivals, Conservative Prime Ministers led governments for 57 years of the twentieth century, including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Thatchers tenure led to wide-ranging economic liberalisation, the Conservative Partys domination of British politics throughout the twentieth century has led to them being referred to as one of the most successful political parties in the Western world. The Conservatives are the joint-second largest British party in the European Parliament, with twenty MEPs, the party is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe Europarty and the International Democrat Union. The party is the second-largest in the Scottish Parliament and the second-largest in the Welsh Assembly, the party is also organised in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The Conservative Party traces its origins to a faction, rooted in the 18th century Whig Party and they were known as Independent Whigs, Friends of Mr Pitt, or Pittites. After Pitts death the term Tory came into use and this was an allusion to the Tories, a political grouping that had existed from 1678, but which had no organisational continuity with the Pittite party. From about 1812 on the name Tory was commonly used for the newer party, the term Conservative was suggested as a title for the party by a magazine article by J. Wilson Croker in the Quarterly Review in 1830. The name immediately caught on and was adopted under the aegis of Sir Robert Peel around 1834. Peel is acknowledged as the founder of the Conservative Party, which he created with the announcement of the Tamworth Manifesto, the term Conservative Party rather than Tory was the dominant usage by 1845. In 1912, the Liberal Unionists merged with the Conservative Party, in Ireland, the Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed in 1891 which merged anti-Home Rule Unionists into one political movement. Its MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster, and in essence formed the Irish wing of the party until 1922. The Conservatives served with the Liberals in an all-party coalition government during World War I, keohane finds that the Conservatives were bitterly divided before 1914, especially on the issue of Irish Unionism and the experience of three consecutive election losses

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Labour Party (UK)
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The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Labour later served in the coalition from 1940 to 1945. Labour was also in government from 1964 to 1970 under Harold Wilson and from 1974 to 1979, first under Wilson and then James Callaghan. The Labour Party was last in government from 1997 to 2010 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, beginning with a majority of 179. Having won 232 seats in the 2015 general election, the party is the Official Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the party also organises in Northern Ireland, but does not contest elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance. In September 2015, Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party, the first Lib–Lab candidate to stand was George Odger in the Southwark by-election of 1870. In addition, several small socialist groups had formed around this time, among these were the Independent Labour Party, the intellectual and largely middle-class Fabian Society, the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and the Scottish Labour Party. In the 1895 general election, the Independent Labour Party put up 28 candidates, Keir Hardie, the leader of the party, believed that to obtain success in parliamentary elections, it would be necessary to join with other left-wing groups. Hardies roots as a lay preacher contributed to an ethos in the party led to the comment by 1950s General Secretary Morgan Phillips that Socialism in Britain owed more to Methodism than Marx. The motion was passed at all stages by the TUC, the meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations—trades unions represented about one third of the membership of the TUC delegates. This created an association called the Labour Representation Committee, meant to coordinate attempts to support MPs sponsored by trade unions and it had no single leader, and in the absence of one, the Independent Labour Party nominee Ramsay MacDonald was elected as Secretary. He had the task of keeping the various strands of opinions in the LRC united. The October 1900 Khaki election came too soon for the new party to campaign effectively, only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful, Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby. Support for the LRC was boosted by the 1901 Taff Vale Case, the judgement effectively made strikes illegal since employers could recoup the cost of lost business from the unions. In their first meeting after the election the groups Members of Parliament decided to adopt the name The Labour Party formally, the Fabian Society provided much of the intellectual stimulus for the party. One of the first acts of the new Liberal Government was to reverse the Taff Vale judgement, the Peoples History Museum in Manchester holds the minutes of the first Labour Party meeting in 1906 and has them on display in the Main Galleries. Also within the museum is the Labour History Archive and Study Centre, the governing Liberals were unwilling to repeal this judicial decision with primary legislation

8.
Richard Newby, Baron Newby
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Richard Mark Newby, Baron Newby OBE PC, known popularly as Dick Newby, is a British politician, who has been the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords since September 2016. On leaving university, Newby joined HM Customs and Excise where he became principal in charge of coordination in 1980. After the SDP he became director of affairs at Rosehaugh plc. He subsequently became a consultant on corporate social responsibility, Newby worked extensively on programmes which used the power of sport to help motivate and educate children and young people. He was chair of sport at The Princes Trust, chair of International Development Through Sport and chair of Sport for Life International and he had parliamentary ambitions seeking the candidacy for Twickenham, challenging Vince Cable, in 1997. From 1999 to 2006, Newby was Chief of Staff to Charles Kennedy, in September 2012, he was appointed Treasury spokesman in the House of Lords. In September 2016 he was elected Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords replacing Lord Wallace of Tankerness, Lord Newby has been married since 1978 to the Rev. Ailsa Ballantyne Newby, they have two sons. According to the House of Lords register of interests, he jointly owns, with his wife. Lord Newby profile at the site of Liberal Democrats The They Work For You website

9.
Liberal Democrats (UK)
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The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. The party was formed in 1988 as a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party, at the 2015 general election, the party was reduced to eight MPs. Nick Clegg resigned as leader and Tim Farron won the subsequent leadership election, the party currently has nine MPs, following the Richmond Park by-election. The Alliance was led by David Steel and Roy Jenkins, Jenkins was replaced by David Owen, the two parties had their own policies and emphases, but produced a joint manifesto for the 1983 and 1987 general elections. Following disappointing results in the 1987 election, Steel proposed to merge the two parties, although opposed by Owen, it was supported by a majority of members of both parties, and they formally merged in March 1988, with Steel and Robert Maclennan as joint interim leaders. The new party was initially named Social and Liberal Democrats with the short form The Democrats being used from September 1988. The name was changed to Liberal Democrats in October 1989. The new party logo, the Bird of Liberty, was adopted in 1989, the party is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and Liberal International. The then-serving Liberal MP Paddy Ashdown was elected leader in July 1988, at the 1989 European Elections, the party received only 6% of the vote, putting them in fourth place after the Green Party. They failed to gain a single Member of the European Parliament at this election, over the next three years, the party recovered under Ashdowns leadership. They performed better at the 1990 local elections and in by-elections—including at Eastbourne in 1990, Ribble Valley in 1991, the Lib Dems did not reach the share of national votes in the 1990s that the Alliance had achieved in the 1980s. At their first election in 1992, they won 17. 8% of the vote, in the 1994 European Elections, the party gained its first two Members of European Parliament. The election was, however, something of a point for the Liberal Democrats. Ashdown retired as leader in 1999 and the party elected Charles Kennedy as his replacement, the party improved on their 1997 results at the 2001 general election, increasing their number of seats to 52 and their share of the vote to 18. 3%. The party won seats from Labour in by-elections in Brent East in 2003 and Leicester South in 2004, under Kennedys leadership the majority of Pro-Euro Conservatives, a group of former members of the Conservatives, joined the Liberal Democrats on 10 December 2001. At the 2005 general election, the Lib Dems gained their highest share of the vote since the SDP–Liberal Alliance and won 62 seats. Many had anticipated that this election would be the Lib Dems breakthrough at Westminster, party activists hoped to better the 25% support of the 1983 election, or to reach 100 MPs. Much of the apparent lack of success resulted from the first-past-the-post electoral system, controversy became associated with the campaign when it became known that Michael Brown had donated £2.4 million to the Liberal Democrats

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Lords Temporal
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This article is about the secular members of the British House of Lords. For the fictional lords of time, see Time Lords, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Lords Temporal are secular members of the House of Lords. Before the enactment of the House of Lords Act 1999, all peers were members of the House of Lords, membership of the Lords is now limited to life peers and a number of elected hereditary peers. The Lords Temporal are all members of the Peerage, formerly, they were all hereditary peers. A similar arrangement was made in respect of the Kingdom of Ireland when that nation merged with Great Britain in January 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. However, when most of Ireland left the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State in December 1922, by the Peerage Act 1963, the election of Scottish representative peers also ended, and all Scottish peers were granted the right to sit in Parliament. Under the House of Lords Act 1999, only life peerages automatically entitle their holders to seats in the House of Lords. Of the hereditary peers, only 92 – the Earl Marshal, the Lord Great Chamberlain and 90 elected by other peers – retain their seats in the House

11.
Government of the United Kingdom
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Her Majestys Government, commonly referred to as the UK government or British government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the Prime Minister, who all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, the government ministers all sit in Parliament, and are accountable to it. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command a majority of MPs in the House of Commons. Under the uncodified British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the prime minister, the Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. They also exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments, the current prime minister is Theresa May, who took office on 13 July 2016. She is the leader of the Conservative Party, which won a majority of seats in the House of Commons in the election on 7 May 2015. Prior to this, Cameron and the Conservatives led a government from 2010 to 2015 with the Liberal Democrats. A key principle of the British Constitution is that the government is responsible to Parliament, Britain is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament and this constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215. Parliament is split into two houses, the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the House of Commons is the lower house and is the more powerful. The House of Lords is the house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit, they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords, since the start of Edward VIIs reign, in 1901, the prime minister has always been an elected member of Parliament and therefore directly accountable to the House of Commons. Under the British system the government is required by convention and for reasons to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply, by convention if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a General Election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay, is not vital, a government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the Responsible house, the prime minister is held to account during Prime Ministers Question Time which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject

12.
Democratic Unionist Party
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The Democratic Unionist Party is the largest unionist political party in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and now led by Arlene Foster, it is the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, however, this influence reduced somewhat under the Robinson leadership in an attempt to reach out to non-Protestants, particularly socially conservative Catholics. Following on from the St Andrews Agreement in October 2006, the DUP agreed with the Irish republican party Sinn Féin to enter into power-sharing devolved government in Northern Ireland, in the aftermath of the agreement there were reports of divisions within the DUP. Many of its members, including Members of Parliament Nigel Dodds, David Simpson. All the partys MPs fully signed up to the manifesto for the 2007 Assembly elections and they founded the Traditional Unionist Voice in December 2007. The DUP is the largest party in Northern Ireland, holding eight seats at Westminster and 28 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and it has one seat in the European Parliament, where its MEP, Diane Dodds, sits as a Non-Inscrit. Although the party is active in Northern Ireland politics, from 2004–05 it had one representative from the English constituency of Basingstoke. The party was established in 1971 by Ian Paisley and Desmond Boal, since its foundation it has won seats at local council, Northern Ireland, UK and European level. The DUP were more Ulster loyalist than the Ulster Unionist Party, and its establishment arguably stemmed from insecurities of the Ulster Protestant working class. Paisley was elected one of Northern Irelands three European Parliament members at the first elections in 1979 and retained that seat in every European election until 2004. In 2004 Paisley was replaced as the DUP MEP by Jim Allister, the DUP also holds seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, and has been elected to each of the Northern Ireland conventions and assemblies set up since the partys creation. It has long been the rival to the other major unionist party. The DUPs main opponent is Sinn Féin and its rival for votes is the Ulster Unionist Party. The DUP was originally involved in the negotiations under former United States Senator George J, the DUP opposed the Agreement in the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum, in which the Agreement was approved with 71. 1% of the electorate in favour. The opposition was based on a number of reasons, including, during the 2003 Assembly Election, the DUP argued for a fair deal that could command the support of both unionists and nationalists. After the results of election the DUP argued that support was no longer present within unionism for the Good Friday Agreement. They then went on to publish their proposals for devolution in Ireland entitled Devolution Now and these proposals have been refined and re-stated in further policy documents including Moving on and Facing Reality. The DUP holds the view that any party which is linked to a terrorist organisation should not be eligible to hold Government office, the DUP fought the resulting election to the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly and took two seats in the multi-party power-sharing executive

13.
Official Opposition (United Kingdom)
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Her Majestys Most Loyal Opposition, or the Official Opposition, in the United Kingdom is led by the Leader of the Opposition. This is usually the political party with the second-largest number of seats in the House of Commons, since May 2010, the Official Opposition has been the Labour Party, currently led by Jeremy Corbyn. The phrase was widely welcomed and has been in use ever since, whilst most days in the House of Commons are set aside for government business, twenty days in each session are set aside for opposition debates. Of these days, seventeen are at the disposal of the Leader of the Opposition, although the Opposition has no more formal powers in setting the Parliamentary agenda, in reality they have a certain influence through a process known as the usual channels. Since 1915, the Leader of the Opposition has, like the Prime Minister, before that a member of the House of Lords sometimes took on the role, although often there was no overall Leader of the Opposition. The most public function of the Leader of the Opposition is Prime Ministers Questions. The Leader of the Opposition has six questions, which s/he sometimes splits into two sets, other backbench opposition MPs also have the right to question the Prime Minister, they are selected either through a ballot, or by catching the Speakers eye. By convention, other Shadow Cabinet members do not question the Prime Minister at PMQs, every government department is subjected to questions in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. As with PMQs, the official opposition spokesmen are allocated a number of questions, in the House of Lords, opposition spokespeople also question the government. This is one of the reasons why every government department has at least one member of parliament and one peer in it. Currently, members from the Conservative party sit to the Speakers right, and members from the Labour Party sit on the main left bench, the second main opposition bench is where the third largest party sits, in this case the SNP. The back of this bench is where other minor parties sit, such as the Liberal Democrats, Democratic Unionist Party, Plaid Cymru, The Green Party, Leader of the Opposition Official Opposition frontbench Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet Parliamentary opposition List of British shadow cabinets

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Crossbench
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A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and in the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber, Crossbench members of the British House of Lords are not aligned to any particular party. Until 2009, these included the Law Lords appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, in addition, former Speakers of the House of Commons and former Lord Speakers of the House of Lords, who by convention are not aligned with any party, also sit as Crossbenchers. Although non-affiliated members, and members of parties, sometimes physically sit on the crossbenches. An increasing number of Crossbenchers have been created peers for non-political reasons, since its establishment in May 2000, the House of Lords Appointments Commission has nominated a total of 67 non-party-political life peers who joined the House of Lords as Crossbenchers. From April 2007 to 2009, the number of Crossbenchers was higher than the number of Conservatives in the Lords for the first time. Although the Lords Spiritual also have no party affiliation, they are not considered Crossbenchers and do not sit on the crossbenches, the current convenor is David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, who took the office in September 2015. While convenors are not part of the channels, they have been included in their discussions in recent years. Unlike the United Kingdom, in Australia the term is applied to those parties, the last few federal elections have seen an increase in the size and power of the crossbench in both houses of Parliament. The resulting 76–74 margin entitled Labor to form a minority government, derryn Hinch won a seat, while Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm, Family Firsts Bob Day, and Jacqui Lambie retained their seats. The number of crossbenchers increased by two to a record 20, the Liberal/National Coalition government required at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority. The term crossbencher generally is not used for the Canadian Parliament or any of the provincial or territorial legislatures, instead, any party that is not the governing party is an opposition party, with the largest of these designated the official opposition. All opposition parties other than the opposition are called third parties. Third parties and independents sit on the side of the chamber. Parties require a number of seats to have official party status for procedural purposes. Although parties without official party status behave like political parties, their members are treated as individual members, third parties have been common in Canadian legislatures since the 1920s. In particular, legislatures often contain members of an ideological party, beginning in 2016, the Independent Senators Group was formed in the Senate of Canada, fulfilling a similar purpose as Crossbenchers. The ISG was created partly as a response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus decision to appoint more non-partisan Senators, similar to Crossbenchers in the UK, the group has chosen a leader, and does not use a whipping system

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Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords
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Members of the House of Lords are said to be non-affiliated if they do not belong to any parliamentary group. That is, they do not take a political partys whip, nor affiliate to the crossbench group, most non-party Lords Temporal are crossbenchers. Members with senior official roles are counted as non-affiliated while they hold this role to preserve their neutrality, the Lord Great Chamberlain is not counted, as he is on leave of absence. Some members become non-affiliated after resigning or being expelled from a party, others have had no party allegiance and choose this designation rather than joining the crossbench

16.
UK Independence Party
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The UK Independence Party is a Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Newton Abbot, Devon, and currently led by Paul Nuttall, at Westminster, UKIP has no Members of Parliament in the House of Commons and three representatives in the House of Lords. It has 20 Members of the European Parliament, making it jointly the largest UK party in that Parliament and it has five Assembly Members in the National Assembly for Wales and has 438 councillors in UK local government. Ideologically positioned on the wing of British politics, UKIP has been characterised as part of a broader European radical right by political scientists. It promotes a British unionist and British nationalist agenda, although its claim that the latter is a form of civic nationalism has been disputed. UKIPs primary emphasis has been on Euroscepticism, calling for the UKs exit from the European Union and it has also placed strong emphasis on lowering immigration, opposing multiculturalism, and encouraging a unitary British identity. On social issues like LGBT rights and education policy it favours traditional values, influenced by Thatcherism and classical liberalism, it describes itself as economically libertarian and promotes liberal economic policies. Having an ideological heritage stemming from the wing of the Conservative Party. UKIP originated as the Anti-Federalist League, a single-issue Eurosceptic party established by the historian Alan Sked in 1991 and it was renamed UKIP in 1993 but its growth remained slow, it was largely eclipsed by the Eurosceptic Referendum Party until the latters 1997 dissolution. Sked was then ousted by a led by Nigel Farage. Under Farages leadership, from 2009 the party adopted a policy platform and capitalised on concerns about rising immigration. This resulted in significant breakthroughs at the 2013 local elections,2014 European elections, the pressure UKIP exerted on the government is widely regarded as the main reason for the 2016 referendum which led to the decision to withdraw from the European Union. Governed by its leader and National Executive Committee, UKIP is divided into regional groups. UKIP began as the Anti-Federalist League, a Eurosceptic political party established in 1991 by the historian Alan Sked, the League opposed the recently signed Maastricht Treaty and sought to sway the governing Conservative Party toward removing the United Kingdom from the European Union. A former Liberal Party candidate, member of the Bruges Group, under the Anti-Federalist Leagues banner, Sked stood as a prospective Member of Parliament in Bath at the 1992 general election, gaining 0. 2% of the vote. UKIP contested the 1994 European Parliament election with little financing and much infighting, securing itself as the fifth largest party in that election with 1% of the vote. During this period, UKIP was viewed as a typical single-issue party by commentators, following the election, UKIP lost much support to the Referendum Party, founded by the multi-millionaire James Goldsmith in 1994, it shared UKIPs Eurosceptic approach but was far better funded. UKIP was beaten by the Referendum Party in 163 of the 165 seats in which stood against each other

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Ulster Unionist Party
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The Ulster Unionist Party is one of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Having gathered support in the north of Ireland during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the known as the Troubles. It is currently the party in Northern Ireland, having been overtaken in 2003 by the Democratic Unionist Party. At the 2015 general election, the party won two seats in the House of Commons, Fermanagh and South Tyrone and South Antrim and this marked the first time since 1921 that a devolved government in Northern Ireland did not include the UUP. The party was led by Mike Nesbitt, but on 3 March 2017 he announced his resignation following the poor performance in that years assembly election. The Ulster Unionist Party traces its existence back to the foundation of the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905. Before that, however, there had been a less formally organised Irish Unionist Alliance since the late 19th century, modern organised unionism properly emerged after William Ewart Gladstones introduction in 1886 of the first of three Home Rule Bills in response to demands by the Irish Parliamentary Party. The IUA was an alliance of Irish Conservatives and Liberal Unionists and it was the merger of these two parties in 1912 that gave rise to the current name of the Conservative and Unionist Party, to which the UUP was formally linked until 1985. From the beginning, the party had an association with the Orange Order. The original composition of the Ulster Unionist Council was 25% Orange delegates, although most unionist support was based in the geographic area that became Northern Ireland, there were at one time unionist enclaves throughout southern Ireland. Unionists in County Cork and Dublin were particularly influential, however, after the Irish Convention failed to reach an understanding on home rule and with the partition of Ireland under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, Irish unionism in effect split. Many southern unionist politicians quickly became reconciled with the new Irish Free State, the existence of a separate Ulster Unionist Party became entrenched as the party took control of the new government of Northern Ireland. The leadership of the UUP was taken by Sir Edward Carson in 1910, throughout his 11-year leadership he fought a sustained campaign against Irish Home Rule, including being involved in the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912. In the 1918 general election, Carson switched constituencies from his seat of Dublin University to Belfast Duncairn. The leadership of the UUP and, subsequently, Northern Ireland, was taken by Sir James Craig, until almost the very end of its period of power in Northern Ireland, the UUP was led by a combination of landed gentry, aristocracy and gentrified industrial magnates. Only its last Prime Minister, Brian Faulkner, was from a middle-class background, during this era, all but 11 of the 149 UUP Stormont MPs were members of the Orange Order, as were all Prime Ministers. James Craig governed Northern Ireland from its inception until his death in 1940 and is buried with his wife by the east wing of Parliament Buildings and his successor, J. M. Andrews, was heavily criticised for appointing octogenarian veterans of Craigavons administration to his cabinet

18.
Green Party of England and Wales
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The Green Party of England and Wales is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Headquartered in London, since 2 September 2016 its Co-Leaders are Caroline Lucas, the Green Party has one Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, one representative in the House of Lords, and three Members of the European Parliament. It has various councillors in UK local government and two members of the London Assembly and it also takes a progressive approach to social policies such as civil liberties, animal rights, LGBT rights and drug policy reform. The party also believes strongly in nonviolence, basic income, a living wage, the party comprises various regional divisions, including the semi-autonomous Wales Green Party. Internationally, the party is affiliated to the Global Greens and the European Green Party, experiencing centralising reforms spearheaded by the Green 2000 group in the early 1990s, the party sought to emphasise growth in local governance, doing so throughout the 1990s. In 2010, the party gained its first MP in Caroline Lucas, the Green Party of England and Wales has its origins in the PEOPLE Party, which was founded in Coventry in 1973. PEOPLE was renamed The Ecology Party in 1975, and in 1985 changed again to the Green Party, the Green Party of England and Wales is registered with the Electoral Commission as simply the Green Party. In the 1989 European Parliament elections, the Green Party of England and Wales polled 15% of the vote with 2.3 million votes, the best ever performance of a Green party in a nationwide election. This success has been attributed to both the increased respectability of environmentalism and the effects of the development boom in southern England in the late 1980s. Many party members opposed the reforms, believing that they would undermine the internal party democracy, although Green 2000 proposals were defeated at the partys 1990 conference, they were overwhelmingly carried at their 1991 conference, resulting in an internal restructuring of the party. The party fielded more candidates than it had ever done before in the 1992 general election but was deemed to have performed poorly. In 1993, the party adopted its Basis for Renewal program in an attempt to bring together conflicting factions and thus save the party from bankruptcy, the party sought to escape their reputation as an environmentalist single-issue party by placing greater emphasis on social policies. In 1993, future party leader and MP Caroline Lucas gained a seat on Oxfordshire County Council, the Greens sought to build alliances with other parties in the hope of gaining representation at the parliamentary level. In Wales, the Greens endorsed Plaid Cymru candidate Cynog Dafis in the 1992 general election, in April 1995 the Green National Executive ruled that the party should withdraw from this alliance due to ideological differences. As the Labour Party shifted to the centre under the leadership of Tony Blair and his New Labour project. At the 2001 general election they polled 0. 63% of the vote, at the 2004 European Parliamentary elections the party returned 2 MEPS the same as in 1999, overall, the Party polled 1,033,093 votes. In the 2005 general election the party gained over 1% of the vote for the first time and this growth has been attributed to the increasing public visibility of the party as well as a general growth in support for smaller parties in the UK. In September 2008, the party elected its first leader, Caroline Lucas

19.
Plaid Cymru
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Plaid Cymru is a social-democratic political party in Wales advocating for Welsh independence from the United Kingdom within the European Union. Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966, Plaid is a member of the European Free Alliance. In September 2008, a senior Plaid Cymru assembly member spelled out her partys continuing support for an independent Wales, the Welsh Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones, kicked off Plaids annual conference by pledging to uphold the goal of making Wales a European Union member state. She told the delegates in Aberystwyth that the party would continue its commitment to independence under the coalition with the Welsh Labour Party. While both the Labour and Liberal parties of the early 20th century had accommodated demands for Welsh home rule, no political party existed for the purpose of establishing a Welsh government. Initially, home rule for Wales was not an aim of the new movement, keeping Wales Welsh-speaking took primacy. In the general election of 1929 the party contested its first parliamentary constituency, Caernarvonshire, polling 609 votes, the party contested few such elections in its early years, partly due to its ambivalence towards Westminster politics. Indeed, the candidate Lewis Valentine, the party’s first president, by 1932 the aims of self-government and Welsh representation at the League of Nations had been added to that of preserving Welsh language and culture. However, this move, and the early attempts to develop an economic critique, did not broaden its appeal beyond that of an intellectual. The alleged sympathy of the leading members towards Europes totalitarian regimes compromised its early appeal further. The leaders treatment, including the judges dismissal of the use of Welsh and their subsequent imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs. This heightened the profile of the party dramatically and its membership had doubled to nearly 2,000 by 1939, in fact, the party adopted a neutral standpoint and urged conscientious objection to war service. In 1943 Saunders Lewis contested the University of Wales parliamentary seat at a by-election, gaining 1,330 votes, at this time Gwynfor Evans was elected president. Gwynfor Evans presidency coincided with the maturation of Plaid Cymru into a more political party. Its share of the vote increased from 0. 7% in the 1951 general election to 3. 1% in 1955 and 5. 2% in 1959, in the 1959 election, the party contested a majority of Welsh seats for the first time. Proposals to drown the village of Capel Celyn in the Tryweryn valley in Gwynedd in 1957 to supply the city of Liverpool with water played a part in Plaid Cymrus growth. Support for the party declined slightly in the early 1960s, particularly as support for the Liberal Party began to stabilise from its long-term decline. In 1962 Saunders Lewis gave a talk entitled Tynged yr Iaith in which he predicted the extinction of the Welsh language unless action was taken

20.
Lords Spiritual
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The Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom, also called Spiritual Peers, are the 26 bishops of the established Church of England who serve in the House of Lords along with the Lords Temporal. The Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, and the Anglican churches in Wales and Northern Ireland, the Church of England comprises 42 dioceses, each led by a diocesan bishop. The diocesan bishops of Canterbury and York are archbishops, who also have oversight over their respective provinces, the occupants of the five great sees—Canterbury, York, London, Durham and Winchester—are always spiritual peers and Lords of Parliament. The Bishop of Sodor and Man and the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe may not sit in the House of Lords regardless of seniority as their dioceses lie outside the United Kingdom, of the remaining 35 bishops, the 21 most senior sit in the House of Lords. Seniority is determined by length of service as an English diocesan bishop. Theoretically, the power to elect archbishops and bishops is vested in the diocesan college of canons. Practically, however, the choice of the archbishop or bishop is made prior to the election, one of the Lords Spiritual is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be the convenor of the bench, he or she coordinates the work of the bishops in the House. David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham, was appointed the current convenor on 18 May 2015, authorities differ on whether the Lords Spiritual are peers. Some contend that archbishops and diocesan bishops are peers during their tenures in the House of Lords, debretts Peerage and Baronetage, for example, unequivocally states, Diocesan Bishops of England in the Lords are — peers of the kingdom. On the other hand, the Encyclopædia Britannica of 1911 suggests, even during the early years of the Peerage, the position of bishops was unclear. The claim was neither agreed nor disagreed to, however, by Parliament, the Lords Spiritual at first declared themselves entirely outside the jurisdiction of secular authorities, the question of trial in the House of Lords did not arise. When papal authority was great, the King could do little, later, however, when the power of the Pope in England was reduced, the Lords Spiritual came under the authority of the secular courts. Despite their failure to be tried as temporal peers in the House of Lords, if the bishops were only Lords of Parliament, and not peers, their right to petition would be vitiated while Parliament was dissolved. Peers, however, were and still are counsellors of the Sovereign whether Parliament is in session or not, therefore, if the bishops were indeed peers, they would be free to send petitions. Nevertheless, the Standing Orders of the House of Lords provide, in the early history of the Parliament of England, the Lords Spiritual—including the abbots—outnumbered the Lords Temporal. Between 1536 and 1540, however, King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, for the first time and thereafter, Lords Spiritual formed a minority in the House of Lords. Bishops, abbots, and priors, of the Church of Scotland traditionally sat in the Parliament of Scotland, laymen acquired the monasteries in 1560, following the Scottish Reformation, and therefore those sitting as abbots and priors were all laymen after this time. Bishops of the Church of Scotland continued to sit, regardless of their religious conformity, Roman Catholic clergy were excluded in 1567, but Episcopal bishops continued to sit until they too were excluded in 1638

21.
Bishop
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A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within these churches, bishops are seen as those who possess the full priesthood, Some Protestant churches including the Lutheran and Methodist churches have bishops serving similar functions as well, though not always understood to be within apostolic succession in the same way. Priests, deacons and lay ministers cooperate and assist their bishop in shepherding a flock, the earliest organization of the Church in Jerusalem was, according to most scholars, similar to that of Jewish synagogues, but it had a council or college of ordained presbyters. In, we see a system of government in Jerusalem chaired by James the Just. In, the Apostle Paul ordains presbyters in churches in Anatolia, in Timothy and Titus in the New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to oversee the local church, Paul commands Titus to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling him to rebuke with all authority. Early sources are unclear but various groups of Christian communities may have had the bishop surrounded by a group or college functioning as leaders of the local churches, eventually, as Christendom grew, bishops no longer directly served individual congregations. Instead, the Metropolitan bishop appointed priests to each congregation. Around the end of the 1st century, the organization became clearer in historical documents. While Ignatius of Antioch offers the earliest clear description of monarchial bishops he is an advocate of monepiscopal structure rather than describing an accepted reality. To the bishops and house churches to which he writes, he offers strategies on how to pressure house churches who dont recognize the bishop into compliance. Other contemporary Christian writers do not describe monarchial bishops, either continuing to equate them with the presbyters or speaking of episkopoi in a city, plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6,1. Your godly bishop — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 2,1, therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters. — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7,1. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father, and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13,2. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3,1. Follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles, and to the deacons pay respect, as to Gods commandment — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8,1. He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God, he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9,1

22.
Palace of Westminster
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The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as the Houses of Parliament after its occupants, the Palace lies on the bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster. The palace is owned by the monarch in right of the Crown and for ceremonial purposes, the building is managed by committees appointed by both houses, which report to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker. The first royal palace was built on the site in the 11th century, part of the New Palaces area of 3.24 hectares was reclaimed from the Thames, which is the setting of its nearly 300-metre long façade, called the River Front. Barry was assisted by Augustus Pugin, an authority on Gothic architecture and style. The Palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom, Westminster has become a metonym for the UK Parliament, the Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The Palace of Westminster site was important during the Middle Ages. Known in medieval times as Thorney Island, the site may have been first-used for a residence by Canute the Great during his reign from 1016 to 1035. St Edward the Confessor, the penultimate Anglo-Saxon monarch of England, Thorney Island and the surrounding area soon became known as Westminster. Neither the buildings used by the Anglo-Saxons nor those used by William I survive, the oldest existing part of the Palace dates from the reign of William Is successor, King William II. The Palace of Westminster was the principal residence in the late Medieval period. The predecessor of Parliament, the Curia Regis, met in Westminster Hall, simon de Montforts parliament, the first to include representatives of the major towns, met at the Palace in 1265. The Model Parliament, the first official Parliament of England, met there in 1295, in 1512, during the early years of the reign of King Henry VIII, fire destroyed the royal residential area of the palace. In 1534, Henry VIII acquired York Place from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, renaming it the Palace of Whitehall, Henry used it as his principal residence. Although Westminster officially remained a royal palace, it was used by the two Houses of Parliament and by the various law courts. Because it was originally a residence, the Palace included no purpose-built chambers for the two Houses. Important state ceremonies were held in the Painted Chamber which had originally built in the 13th century as the main bedchamber for King Henry III. The House of Commons, which did not have a chamber of its own, the Commons acquired a permanent home at the Palace in St Stephens Chapel, the former chapel of the royal palace, during the reign of Edward VI

23.
City of Westminster
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The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which also holds city status. It occupies much of the area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon creation, Westminster was awarded city status, which had previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. Jamess Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, much of the borough is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council, the current Westminster coat of arms were given to the city by an official grant on September 2,1964. Westminster had other arms before, which had an identical to the chief in the present arms. The symbols in the two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington. The original arms had a portcullis as the charge, which now forms the crest. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England, in the mid-11th Century king Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct, Westminster briefly became a city in 1540 when Henry VIII created the short-lived Diocese of Westminster. Following the dissolution of Westminster Abbey, a court of burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, Jamess, Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park. The Westminster Metropolitan Borough was itself the result of an amalgamation which took place in 1900. Sir John Hunt O. B. E was the First Town Clerk of the City of Westminster, the boundaries of the City of Westminster today, as well as those of the other London boroughs, have remained more or less unchanged since the Act of 1963. On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place on Westminster Bridge, Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard, five people - three pedestrians, one police officer, and the attacker - died as a result of the incident. More than 50 people were injured, an investigation is ongoing by the Metropolitan Police. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors, Westminster City Council is currently composed of 44 Conservative Party members and 16 Labour Party members

24.
Greater London
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London, or Greater London, is a region of England which forms the administrative boundaries of London. It is organised into 33 local government districts, the 32 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority, based in Southwark, is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The county of Greater London was created on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963, administratively, Greater London was first established as a sui generis council area under the Greater London Council between 1963 and 1986. The area was re-established as a region in 1994, and the Greater London Authority formed in 2000, the region covers 1,572 km2 and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census. In 2012, it had the highest GVA per capita in the United Kingdom at £37,232, the Greater London Built-up Area—used in some national statistics—is a measure of the continuous urban area of London, and therefore includes areas outside of the administrative region. The term Greater London has been and still is used to different areas in governance, statistics, history. In terms of ceremonial counties, London is divided into the small City of London, outside the limited boundaries of the City, a variety of arrangements has governed the wider area since 1855, culminating in the creation of the Greater London administrative area in 1965. The Greater London Arterial Road Programme was devised between 1913 and 1916, one of the larger early forms was the Greater London Planning Region, devised in 1927, which occupied 1,856 square miles and included 9 million people. The LCC pressed for an alteration in its boundaries soon after the end of the First World War, noting that within the Metropolitan, a Royal Commission on London Government was set up to consider the issue. The LCC proposed a vast new area for Greater London, with a boundary somewhere between the Metropolitan Police District and the home counties, protests were made at the possibility of including Windsor, Slough and Eton in the authority. The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCCs scheme, two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils and a central authority for strategic functions. The London Traffic Act 1924 was a result of the Commission, Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council sharing power with the City of London Corporation and the 32 London Borough councils. The GLC was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its functions were devolved to the City Corporation and the London Boroughs, with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards. Greater London was used to form the London region of England in 1994, a referendum held in 1998 established a public will to recreate an upper tier of government to cover the region. The Greater London Authority, London Assembly and the directly elected Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the Greater London Authority Act 1999, in 2000, the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary. The 2000 and 2004 mayoral elections were won by Ken Livingstone, the 2008 and 2012 elections were won by Boris Johnson. The 2016 election was won by Sadiq Khan, Greater London continues to include the most closely associated parts of the Greater London Urban Area and their historic buffers. Thus it includes, in five boroughs, significant parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt which protects designated greenfield land in a way to the citys parks

25.
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
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The House of Commons of the United Kingdom is the lower house of the countrys parliament. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster, officially, the full name of the house is, The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. The House is a body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected to represent constituencies by first-past-the-post and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved, under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The Government is primarily responsible to the House of Commons and the prime minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support of a majority of its members. Although it does not formally elect the prime minister, the position of the parties in the House of Commons is of overriding importance, by convention, the prime minister is answerable to, and must maintain the support of, the House of Commons. Since 1963, by convention, the minister is always a member of the House of Commons. The Commons may indicate its lack of support for the Government by rejecting a motion of confidence or by passing a motion of no confidence, confidence and no confidence motions are sometimes phrased explicitly, for instance, That this House has no confidence in Her Majestys Government. Many other motions were considered confidence issues, even though not explicitly phrased as such, in particular, important bills that form a part of the Governments agenda were formerly considered matters of confidence, as is the annual Budget. Parliament normally sits for a term of five years. Subject to that limit, the minister could formerly choose the timing of the dissolution of parliament. By this second mechanism, the government of the United Kingdom can change without a general election. In such circumstances there may not even have been a party leadership election, as the new leader may be chosen by acclaim. A prime minister may resign if he or she is not defeated at the polls. In such a case, the premiership goes to whoever can command a majority in the House of Commons, in practice this is usually the new leader of the outgoing prime ministers party. Until 1965, the Conservative Party had no mechanism for electing a new leader, when Anthony Eden resigned as PM in 1957 without recommending a successor and it fell to the Queen to appoint Harold Macmillan as the new prime minister, after taking the advice of ministers. By convention, all ministers must be members of the House of Commons or of the House of Lords, a handful have been appointed who were outside Parliament, but in most cases they then entered Parliament either in a by-election or by receiving a peerage. Since 1902, all ministers have been members of the Commons

26.
Hereditary peer
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Hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over eight hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, Peers are called to the House of Lords with a writ of summons. A hereditary title is not necessarily a title of the peerage, for instance, baronets and baronetesses may pass on their titles, but they are not peers. Conversely, the holder of a title may belong to the peerage. Peerages may be created by means of letters patent, but the granting of new hereditary peerages has dwindled, with six having been created since 1965. The hereditary peerage, as it now exists, combines several different English institutions with analogous ones from Scotland and Ireland, English Earls are an Anglo-Saxon institution. Around 1014, England was divided into shires or counties, largely to defend against the Danes, each shire was led by a great man, called an earl. When the Normans conquered England, they continued to appoint earls, but not for all counties, Earldoms began as offices, with a perquisite of a share of the legal fees in the county, they gradually became honours, with a stipend of £20 a year. Like most feudal offices, earldoms were inherited, but the kings frequently asked earls to resign or exchange earldoms, William the Conqueror and Henry II did not make Dukes, they were themselves only Dukes of Normandy or Aquitaine. But when Edward III of England declared himself King of France, he made his sons Dukes, to them from other noblemen. Later Kings created Marquesses and Viscounts to make finer gradations of honour, which men were ordered to Council varied from Council to Council, a man might be so ordered once and never again, or all his life, but his son and heir might never go. Under Henry VI of England, in the 15th century, just before the Wars of the Roses, the first claim of hereditary right to a writ comes from this reign, so does the first patent, or charter declaring a man to be a Baron. The five orders began to be called Peers, holders of older peerages also began receive greater honour than Peers of the same rank just created. If a man held a peerage, his son would succeed to it, if he had no children, if he had a single daughter, his son-in-law would inherit the family lands, and usually the same Peerage, more complex cases were decided depending on circumstances. Customs changed with time, Earldoms were the first to be hereditary, after Henry II became the Lord of Ireland, he and his successors began to imitate the English system as it was in their time. A writ does not create a peerage in Ireland, all Irish peerages are by patent or charter, in the 18th century, Irish peerages became rewards for English politicians, limited only by the concern that they might go to Dublin and interfere with the Irish Government. Scotland evolved a system, differing in points of detail

27.
Peerages in the United Kingdom
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The peerage is a legal system historically comprising hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, comprising various noble ranks, and forms a constituent part of the British honours system. The term peerage can be used collectively to refer to the entire body of nobles, and individually to refer to a specific title. British peerage title holders are termed peers of the Realm, New Labour, elected to power in 1997, sought to eject all hereditary peers from Parliament but PM Tony Blair relented by allowing only 92 members to remain by legislation enacted in 1999. The House of Lordss purpose is now that of a legislative chamber. Peerages are created by the British monarch, like all Crown honours, HMG recommends to the Sovereign who to be elevated to the peerage, after external vetting by the House of Lords Appointments Commission. The Sovereign, traditionally the fount of honour, cannot hold a British peerage, succession claims to existing hereditary peerages are regulated by the House of Lords Committee for Privileges and Conduct and administered by The Crown Office. The modern-day parliamentary peerage is a continuation of the renamed medieval baronage system which existed in feudal times, certain other office-holders such as senior clerics and Freemen of the Cinque Ports were deemed barons. This right, entitlement or title, began to be granted by decree in the form of a Writ of Summons from 1265, additionally, many holders of smaller fiefdoms per baroniam ceased to be summoned to parliament, resulting in baronial status becoming personal rather than territorial. In the UK, five peerages co-exist, namely, The Peerage of England — titles created by the Kings, the Peerage of Scotland — titles created by the Kings and Queens of Scotland before 1707. The Peerage of Ireland — titles created for the Kingdom of Ireland before the Act of Union of 1801, the Peerage of Great Britain — titles created for the Kingdom of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. The Peerage of the United Kingdom — most titles created since 1801 to the present, Peers are of five ranks, in descending order of hierarchy, Duke comes from the Latin dux, leader. The first duke in a peerage of the British Isles was created in 1337, Marquess comes from the French marquis, which is a derivative of marche or march. This is a reference to the borders between England, Scotland, and Wales, a more evident in the feminine form. The first marquess in a peerage of the British Isles was created in 1385, earl comes from the Old English or Anglo-Saxon eorl, a military leader. The meaning may have been affected by the Old Norse jarl, meaning free-born warrior or nobleman, during the Danelaw, since there was no feminine Old English or Old Norse equivalent for the term, Countess is used, from the Latin comes. Viscount comes from the Latin vicecomes, vice-count, Baron comes from the Old Germanic baro, freeman. In the Peerage of Scotland alone, a holder of the rank is not called a Baron. Barons in Scotland were traditionally holders of feudal dignities, not peers, baronets, while holders of hereditary titles, are not peers since baronetcies have never conferred noble status, although socially they came to be regarded as part of the aristocracy

28.
Christian state
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Historically, the nations of Armenia, Aksum, Georgia, as well as the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire declared themselves as Christian states. A Christian state stands in contrast to a state, an atheist state, or another religious state. In 380 AD, the Edict of Thessalonica made the Roman Empire a Christian state, establishing Nicene Christianity, in the form of its State Church, as its official religion. After its fall, under the emperor Justinian, the Byzantine Empire became the worlds predominant Christian state, based on Roman law, Greek culture, and the Greek language. John Binns describes this era, writing that, As a Christian state, Armenia embraced Christianity as the religion of the King, the nobles, in 337 AD, following the conversion of Mirian and Nana, the country of Georgia became a Christian state. In the 4th century AD, the Kingdom of Aksum, after Ezanas conversion to the faith, the constitution of Costa Rica states that The Roman Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State. As such, Catholic Christian holy days are recognized by the government and public schools provide religious education, although parents are able to opt-out their children if they choose to do so. As early as the 11th century AD, Denmark was considered to be a Christian state, with the Church of Denmark, a member of the Lutheran World Federation, being the state church. Wasif Shadid, a professor at Leiden University writes that,82. 1% of the population of Denmark are members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. Barbara Yorke writes that the Carolingian Renaissance heightened appreciation within England of the role of king, greece is a Christian state, with the Greek Orthodox Church playing a dominant role in the life of the country. Around 1000 AD, Iceland became a Christian state, the Encyclopedia of Protestantism states that, All public schools have mandatory education in Christianity, although an exemption may be considered by the Minister of Education. Liechtensteins constitution designates the Catholic Church as being the state Church of that country, in public schools, per article 16 of the Constitution of Liechtenstein, religious education is given by Church authorities. Section Two of the Constitution of Malta specifies the states religion as being the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion, article 9 of the Constitution of Monaco describes La religion catholique, apostolique et romaine as the religion of the state. The modern Constitution of Norway stipulates that The Church of Norway, as such, the Norwegian constitution decrees that Lutheranism is the official religion of the State and that the King is the supreme temporal head of the Church. The Church of Norway is responsible for the maintenance of church buildings, john T. Flint writes that Over 90 percent of the population are married by state church clergymen, have their children baptized and confirmed, and finally are buried with a church service. Tonga became a Christian state under George Tupou I in the 19th century, with the Free Wesleyan Church, under the rule of George I, there was established a rigorous constitutional clause regulating observation of the Sabbath. The Church of Tuvalu, a Reformed Church in the Congregationalist tradition, is the church of Tuvalu and was established as such in 1991. The Constitution of Tuvalu identifies Tuvalu as an independent State based on Christian principles

29.
Church of England
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The Church of England is the state church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior cleric, although the monarch is the supreme governor, the Church of England is also the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It dates its establishment as a church to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. The English church renounced papal authority when Henry VIII sought to secure an annulment from Catherine of Aragon in the 1530s, the English Reformation accelerated under Edward VIs regents before a brief restoration of papal authority under Queen Mary I and King Philip. This is expressed in its emphasis on the teachings of the early Church Fathers, as formalised in the Apostles, Nicene, in the earlier phase of the English Reformation there were both Catholic martyrs and radical Protestant martyrs. The later phases saw the Penal Laws punish Roman Catholic and nonconforming Protestants, in the 17th century, political and religious disputes raised the Puritan and Presbyterian faction to control of the church, but this ended with the Restoration. Papal recognition of George III in 1766 led to religious tolerance. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has used a liturgy in English, the church contains several doctrinal strands, the main three known as Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical and Broad Church. Tensions between theological conservatives and progressives find expression in debates over the ordination of women and homosexuality, the church includes both liberal and conservative clergy and members. The governing structure of the church is based on dioceses, each presided over by a bishop, within each diocese are local parishes. The General Synod of the Church of England is the body for the church and comprises bishops, other clergy. Its measures must be approved by both Houses of Parliament, according to tradition, Christianity arrived in Britain in the 1st or 2nd century, during which time southern Britain became part of the Roman Empire. The earliest historical evidence of Christianity among the native Britons is found in the writings of such early Christian Fathers as Tertullian, three Romano-British bishops, including Restitutus, are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314. Others attended the Council of Sardica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360, Britain was the home of Pelagius, who opposed Augustine of Hippos doctrine of original sin. Consequently, in 597, Pope Gregory I sent the prior of the Abbey of St Andrews from Rome to evangelise the Angles and this event is known as the Gregorian mission and is the date the Church of England generally marks as the beginning of its formal history. A later archbishop, the Greek Theodore of Tarsus, also contributed to the organisation of Christianity in England, the Church of England has been in continuous existence since the days of St Augustine, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its episcopal head. Despite the various disruptions of the Reformation and the English Civil War, while some Celtic Christian practices were changed at the Synod of Whitby, the Christian Church in the British Isles was under papal authority from earliest times. The Synod of Whitby established the Roman date for Easter and the Roman style of monastic tonsure in Britain and this meeting of the ecclesiastics with Roman customs with local bishops was summoned in 664 at Saint Hildas double monastery of Streonshalh, later called Whitby Abbey

30.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
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The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and its overseas territories. The monarchs title is King or Queen, the current monarch and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended the throne on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, as the monarchy is constitutional, the monarch is limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch is, by tradition, commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces, from 1603, when the Scottish monarch King James VI inherited the English throne as James I, both the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, the Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Roman Catholics, or those who married Catholics, from succession to the English throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the British monarch became nominal head of the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the worlds surface at its greatest extent in 1921. After the Second World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, George VI and his successor, Elizabeth II, adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth monarchies that share the person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the Monarch is the Head of State, oaths of allegiance are made to the Queen and her lawful successors. God Save the Queen is the British national anthem, and the monarch appears on postage stamps, coins, the Monarch takes little direct part in Government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majestys Government, which comprises Ministers, primarily the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and they have the direction of the Armed Forces of the Crown, the Civil Service and other Crown Servants such as the Diplomatic and Secret Services. Judicial power is vested in the Judiciary, who by constitution, the Church of England, of which the Monarch is the head, has its own legislative, judicial and executive structures. Powers independent of government are legally granted to public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council. The Sovereigns role as a monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions. This role has been recognised since the 19th century, the constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the dignified part rather than the efficient part of government. Whenever necessary, the Monarch is responsible for appointing a new Prime Minister, the Prime Minister takes office by attending the Monarch in private audience, and after kissing hands that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument. Since 1945, there have only been two hung parliaments, the first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilsons Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party, the second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II

31.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
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The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of Her Majestys Government in the United Kingdom. The prime minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Monarch, to Parliament, to their political party, the office is one of the Great Offices of State. The current prime minister, Theresa May, leader of the Conservative Party, was appointed by the Queen on 13 July 2016. The position of Prime Minister was not created, it evolved slowly and erratically over three hundred years due to acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history. The office is therefore best understood from a historical perspective, the origins of the position are found in constitutional changes that occurred during the Revolutionary Settlement and the resulting shift of political power from the Sovereign to Parliament. The political position of Prime Minister was enhanced by the development of political parties, the introduction of mass communication. By the start of the 20th century the modern premiership had emerged, prior to 1902, the prime minister sometimes came from the House of Lords, provided that his government could form a majority in the Commons. However as the power of the aristocracy waned during the 19th century the convention developed that the Prime Minister should always sit in the lower house. As leader of the House of Commons, the Prime Ministers authority was further enhanced by the Parliament Act of 1911 which marginalised the influence of the House of Lords in the law-making process. The Prime Minister is ex officio also First Lord of the Treasury, certain privileges, such as residency of 10 Downing Street, are accorded to Prime Ministers by virtue of their position as First Lord of the Treasury. As the Head of Her Majestys Government the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet, in addition the Prime Minister leads a major political party and generally commands a majority in the House of Commons. As such the incumbent wields both legislative and executive powers, under the British system there is a unity of powers rather than separation. In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister guides the process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of their political party. The Prime Minister also acts as the face and voice of Her Majestys Government. The British system of government is based on an uncodified constitution, in 1928, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith described this characteristic of the British constitution in his memoirs, In this country we live. Our constitutional practices do not derive their validity and sanction from any Bill which has received the assent of the King, Lords. They rest on usage, custom, convention, often of slow growth in their early stages, not always uniform, the relationships between the Prime Minister and the Sovereign, Parliament and Cabinet are defined largely by these unwritten conventions of the constitution. Many of the Prime Ministers executive and legislative powers are actually royal prerogatives which are still vested in the Sovereign

32.
Peerage of Ireland
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The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, as of 2016, there were 135 titles in the Peerage of Ireland extant, two dukedoms, ten marquessates,43 earldoms,28 viscountcies, and 52 baronies. A handful of titles in the peerage of Ireland date from the Middle Ages, as a consequence, many Irish peers had little or no connection to Ireland, and indeed the names of some Irish peerages refer to places in Great Britain. Irish peerages were created in the nineteenth century at least as often as the Act permitted. Accordingly, the Duke of Abercorn ranks between the Duke of Sutherland and the Duke of Westminster, the existing representative peers kept their seats in the House of Lords, but they have not been replaced. Since the death of Francis Needham, 4th Earl of Kilmorey in 1961, the right of the Irish Peerage to elect Representatives was abolished by statute in 1971. In the following table of the Peerage of Ireland as it currently stands, Irish peers possessed of titles in any of the other peerages had automatic seats in the House of Lords until 1999. In Ireland, barony may also refer to a political subdivision of a county. There is no connection between such a barony and the title of baron. List of Irish representative peers Irish nobility, which three groups of Irish nobility, the other two being, Gaelic nobility of Ireland Hiberno-Normans Courthope, William. Debretts Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 22nd edition, the Peerage of Ireland, Volume I. The Peerage of Ireland, Volume II, the Peerage of Ireland, Volume II

33.
House of Lords Act 1999
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The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament, for centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats, the Act removed such a right. However, as part of a compromise, the Act did permit ninety-two hereditary peers to remain in the House on an interim basis, another ten were created life peers to enable them to remain in the House. The Act decreased the membership of the House from 1,330 in October 1999 to 669 in March 2000, as another result of the Act, the majority of the Lords were now life peers, whose numbers had been gradually increasing since the Life Peerages Act 1958. As of August 2012, there were 825 Peers, of whom 26 were senior Church of England bishops, prior to the 16th century, the Lords was the stronger of the two houses of Parliament. The rising wealth of the Commons eventually allowed it to two civil wars, dethrone two Kings, and gradually reduce the power of the Lords. Furthermore, the Commons has absolute power when it comes to money bills, the Labour Party had for years endorsed abolition of the unelected House of Lords in its election platforms, though since 1992 this had changed to a policy of reforming the House instead. In the first year of the Blair government, the Lords passed back Government bills 38 times, the rejection considered the most contentious was of the European Elections Bill, against which the Lords voted five times. Blair stated that the Conservatives were using the hereditary peers to frustrate, here Blair found an opportunity to implement one of Labours campaign promises, reforming the Lords. In it, she suggested that her Government would pursue a reform of the House of Lords and these remarks were followed by shouts of Hear. Hear. from supportive Labour Members of Parliament, and by similar shouts of Shame, Shame. from Conservative peers, such outbursts were unprecedented, for the Queens Speech is with few exceptions heard by a silent Parliament. The House of Lords Bill was expected to face a fight in the House of Lords. Several Lords threatened to disrupt the Governments other bills if they continued with the plan to abolish the right to sit in the House of Lords. The Earl of Onslow, for instance, said, Im happy to force a division on each, each division takes 20 minutes and there are more than 270 clauses. Lords had plenty of other means by which they could obstruct the Governments programme, Lord Randall put forward the idea of phasing out the hereditary peers by disqualifying their heirs. Baroness Jay reminded the House that under the Salisbury Convention they could not block the bill. In order to convince some peers to vote for reform, Tony Blair announced that he would compromise by allowing a number of peers to remain in the House of Lords on an interim basis. On 2 December 1998, the Conservative Leader of the Opposition, William Hague and he suggested that Blairs changes indicated his lack of principles, claiming that Blair wanted to turn the House of Lords into a House of Cronies

34.
Bicameralism
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A bicameral legislature is one in which the legislators are divided into two separate assemblies, chambers or houses. As of 2015, somewhat less than half of the national legislatures are bicameral. Often, the members of the two chambers are elected or selected using different methods, which vary from country to country and this can often lead to the two chambers having very different compositions of members. However, in many Westminster system parliaments, the house to which the executive is responsible can overrule the other house, some legislatures lie in between these two positions, with one house only able to overrule the other under certain circumstances. For example, one house would represent the aristocracy, and the other would represent the commoners as was the case in the Kingdom of England. Others, such as France under the Ancien Régime had a legislature known as the Estates General, which consisted of separate chambers for the clergymen, the nobility. The Founding Fathers of the United States also favoured a bicameral legislature, the idea was to have the Senate be wealthier and wiser. Benjamin Rush saw this though, and noted that, this type of dominion is almost always connected with opulence, the Senate was created to be a stabilising force, elected not by mass electors, but selected by the State legislators. Senators would be more knowledgeable and more sort of republican nobility—and a counter to what Madison saw as the fickleness. He noted further that the use of the Senate is to consist in its proceeding with more coolness, with system and with more wisdom. Madisons argument led the Framers to grant the Senate prerogatives in foreign policy, an area where steadiness, discretion, the Senate was chosen by state legislators, and senators had to possess a significant amount of property in order to be deemed worthy and sensible enough for the position. In fact, it was not until the year 1913 that the 17th Amendment was passed, as part of the Great Compromise, they invented a new rationale for bicameralism in which the Senate would have states represented equally, and the House would have them represented by population. Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British three-tier model, nevertheless, the older justification for second chambers—providing opportunities for second thoughts about legislation—has survived. An example of controversy regarding a second chamber has been the debate over the powers of the Canadian Senate or the election of the Senate of France. The relationship between the two chambers varies, in cases, they have equal power, while in others. The first tends to be the case in federal systems and those with presidential governments, the latter tends to be the case in unitary states with parliamentary systems. In the United States both houses of the U. S and this is due to their original location in the two-story building that was to house them. In Canada, the country as a whole is divided into a number of Senate Divisions, each with a different number of Senators, Senators in Canada are not elected by the people but are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister

35.
Bill (law)
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A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an Act or a statute. The term bill is used in the United States and the Commonwealth. In the United Kingdom, the subparts of a bill are known as clauses while the subparts of an Act are known as sections, the preparation of a bill may involve the production of a draft bill prior to the introduction of the bill into the legislature. In the United Kingdom, draft Bills are frequently considered to be confidential, in the British/Westminster system, where the executive is drawn from the legislature and usually holds a majority in the lower house, most bills are introduced by the executive. In principle, the legislature meets to consider the demands of the executive, while mechanisms exist to allow other members of the legislature to introduce bills, these are subject to strict timetables and usually fail unless a consensus is reached. In the US system, where the executive is formally separated from the legislature, Bills can be introduced using the following procedures, Leave, A motion is brought before the chamber asking that leave be given to bring in a bill. This is used in the British system in the form of the Ten Minute Rule motion, the legislator has 10 minutes to propose a bill, which can then be considered by the House on a day appointed for the purpose. While this rule remains in place in the rules of procedure of the US Congress, government motion, In jurisdictions where the executive can control legislative business a bill may be brought in by executive fiat. Bills are generally considered through a number of readings and this refers to the historic practice of the clerical officers of the legislature reading the contents of a bill to the legislature. While the bill is no longer read, the motions on the bill still refer to this practice, in the British/Westminster system, a bill is read the first time when it is introduced. This is accompanied by an order that the bill be printed and considered again, at the second reading the general merits of the bill are considered – it is out of order to criticise a bill at this stage for technical defects in drafting. After the second reading the bill is referred to a committee, the committee reports to the legislature, at which stage further amendments are proposed. Finally a third reading debate at which the bill as amended is considered in its entirety, in a bicameral legislature the process is repeated in the other house, before the Bill is submitted to the executive for approval. Where a piece of legislation is termed an act, the process of a bill becoming law may be termed enactment. Once a bill is passed by the legislature, it may become law, or it may need need further approval. Bills passed by the usually require the approval of the executive such as the monarch, president. In parliamentary systems, approval is normally a formality, since the head is directed by an executive controlled by the legislature

36.
Speech from the throne
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The speech is prepared by the ministers of the crown in cabinet. The event is held annually, although in some places it may occur more or less frequently. In constitutional monarchies today, whether by law or by convention, the head of state reads the Speech From the Throne, the address sets forth the governments priorities with respect to its legislative agenda, for which the cooperation of parliament is sought. In the United Kingdom, the speech is known as Her Majestys Most Gracious Speech, the Gracious Address, or, less formally, in Canada, it is often shortened to Throne Speech. In Australia, this speech is called the Governors speech or opening speech, in Hong Kong, the governors address was termed the Policy Address during Chris Pattens governorship. In the Irish Free State, the governor-general delivered the Governor-Generals Address to Dáil Éireann, in the Commonwealth realms, the Speech From the Throne is an oration that forms part of a ceremony marking the opening of parliament. Some records indicate the ceremony has taken place since the Medieval era, while others place its origins in the 16th century, the speech explained to parliament the reasons it was summoned and sometimes set out the sovereigns policies and objectives. The monarch would sometimes speak to parliament in person, King Edward III, Richard II, and Edward IV did so. It was given on his behalf by the Bishop of Winchester in 1410, in 1453 and 1467, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Rochester in 1472, and the Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1431. It may have been written by or with the input of the king or queens advisers, but, in unicameral parliaments, the speech is read in the one legislative chamber. Unusually, in the Irish Free State, the speech was delivered in the house of its bicameral parliament. In the United Kingdom, the speech is read by the reigning sovereign at the State Opening of Parliament. Traditions surrounding the Opening and the speech go back to the 16th century, the present ceremony dates from 1852, the ceremony now occurs annually in May or soon after a general election. Another member of the Royal Family may also perform this duty, such as when, on 1 September 1919, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, read the Speech From the Throne in the Canadian parliament. On two occasions, the Administrator of the Government delivered the address to the Parliament of Canada,16 May 1963 and 30 September 1974. In almost all the Canadian provinces, the relevant lieutenant governor delivers the speech, at the Provincial level in Canada, only in Quebec is the speech not referred to as the Speech From the Throne. In British overseas territories that have instituted this practice, the relevant governor delivers the speech, however, the British monarch often undertakes visits and speaks to the devolved bodies in a less official capacity. In each of the Canadian territories, the commissioner reads the Throne Speech or Opening Address to the legislature, formally, the motion that follows the speech merely calls on parliament to thank the monarch or viceroy via an Address in Reply

37.
UK Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English and Welsh law, Northern Ireland law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and the highest appellate court in the United Kingdom, the Supreme Court was established by Part 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and started work on 1 October 2009. Its jurisdiction over devolution matters had previously exercised by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Because of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, the Supreme Court is much more limited in its powers of review than the constitutional or supreme courts of some other countries. It cannot overturn any primary legislation made by Parliament, however, it can overturn secondary legislation if, for example, that legislation is found to be ultra vires to the powers in primary legislation allowing it to be made. Such a declaration can apply to primary or secondary legislation, the legislation is not overturned by the declaration, and neither Parliament nor the government is required to agree with any such declaration. The current President of the Supreme Court is Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, the Supreme Courts focus is on cases that raise points of law of general public importance. The Supreme Court also determines devolution issues, ordinarily, all twelve justices do not all hear every case. Typically a case is heard by a panel of five justices, the justices are also members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and spend some of their time in that capacity. The creation of a Supreme Court for the United Kingdom was first mooted in a paper published by the Department of Constitutional Affairs in July 2003. Space within the House of Lords was at a constant premium, the main argument against a new Supreme Court was that the previous system had worked well and kept costs down. Reformers expressed concern that this second main example of a mixture of the legislative, judicial, officials who make or execute laws have an interest in court cases that put those laws to the test. When the state invests judicial authority in those officials or even their colleagues, it puts the independence. Lord Phillips said such an outcome was a possibility, but was unlikely, the reforms were controversial and were brought forward with little consultation but were subsequently extensively debated in Parliament. During 2004, a committee of the House of Lords scrutinised the arguments for. The Government estimated the set-up cost of the Supreme Court at £56.9 million, the Supreme Court was established by Part 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and started work on 1 October 2009. Its jurisdiction over devolution matters had previously held by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The first case heard by the Supreme Court was HM Treasury v Ahmed, at issue was the extent to which Parliament has, by the United Nations Act 1946, delegated to the executive the power to legislate

38.
Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919
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The Church of England Assembly Act 1919 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that enables the Church of England to submit primary legislation called Measures, for passage by Parliament. Measures have the force and effect as Acts of Parliament. The power to pass measures was originally granted to the Church Assembly, the members are appointed for the duration of each parliament, and vacancies may be filled by the speaker of the relevant House. A quorum for business is twelve members, the General Synod refers any measures which it desires to pass into law to the Legislative Committee, a body appointed by the General Synod from among its own members. This Committee forwards the proposed measure to the Ecclesiastical Committee, together with any comments or explanations that it, or the General Synod, either Committee has the right to consult with the other in a joint conference to debate the measure. The Legislative Committee may then decide whether to allow the report to be presented to Parliament, the General Synod may also direct the Committee to withdraw the measure. The Ecclesiastical Committee may not present the report without permission, if the Legislative Committee wishes to proceed, then the report and the measure are both presented to each House of Parliament. If both Houses pass a resolution agreeing to the measure, then it is presented to the Queen to receive royal assent, on receiving royal assent it becomes a law. The Act states, A measure may relate to any matter concerning the Church of England, however, a measure may not affect the composition or powers or duties of the Ecclesiastical Committee, or the procedure in Parliament for passing measures. However, the procedure under the 1998 Act for amending incompatible legislation does not apply to measures

39.
Parliament of England
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The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Over the centuries, the English Parliament progressively limited the power of the English monarchy which arguably culminated in the English Civil War, the Act of Union 1707 merged the English Parliament with the Parliament of Scotland to form the Parliament of Great Britain. When the Parliament of Ireland was abolished in 1801, its members were merged into what was now called the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under a monarchical system of government, monarchs usually must consult, early kings of England had no standing army or police, and so depended on the support of powerful subjects. The monarchy had agents in every part of the country, however, under the feudal system that evolved in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066, the laws of the Crown could not have been upheld without the support of the nobility and the clergy. The former had economic and military bases of their own through major ownership of land. The Church was virtually a law unto itself in this period as it had its own system of law courts. In order to seek consultation and consent from the nobility and the clergy on major decisions. A typical Great Council would consist of archbishops, bishops, abbots, barons and earls, when this system of consultation and consent broke down, it often became impossible for government to function effectively. The most prominent instances of prior to the reign of Henry III are the disagreements between Thomas Becket and Henry II and between King John and the barons. Becket, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1162 and 1170, was murdered following a long running dispute with Henry II over the jurisdiction of the Church. John, who was king from 1199 to 1216, aroused such hostility from many leading noblemen that they forced him to agree to Magna Carta in 1215, johns refusal to adhere to this charter led to civil war. The Great Council evolved into the Parliament of England, the term itself came into use during the early 13th century, deriving from the Latin and French words for discussion and speaking. The word first appears in documents in the 1230s. As a result of the work by historians G. O. Sayles and H. G. Richardson, during the 13th and 14th centuries, the kings began to call Knights of the Shire to meet when the monarch saw it as necessary. A notable example of this was in 1254 when sheriffs of counties were instructed to send Knights of the Shire to parliament to advise the king on finance, initially, parliaments were mostly summoned when the king needed to raise money through taxes. Following the Magna Carta this became a convention and this was due in no small part to the fact that King John died in 1216 and was succeeded by his young son Henry III. Leading peers and clergy governed on Henrys behalf until he came of age, among other things, they made sure that Magna Carta would be reaffirmed by the young king

40.
Treaty of Union
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The details of the Treaty were agreed on 22 July 1706, and separate Acts of Union were then passed by the parliaments of England and Scotland to ratify the Treaty and put it into effect. Queen Elizabeth I of England died without issue on 24 March 1603, the throne fell immediately and uncontroversially to her double first cousin twice removed, King James VI of Scotland, a member of House of Stuart and son of Mary, Queen of Scots. He assumed the throne of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland as King James I in the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and this personal union somewhat assuaged constant English fears of Scottish cooperation with France, especially in a hypothetical French invasion of Britain. After that personal union, people discussed the idea of uniting the Kingdom of Scotland. Nevertheless, Acts of Parliament attempting to unite the two failed in 1606, in 1667, and in 1689. The colonisation began in 1698 and ended in a confrontation with the Spanish in 1700, however. England was at war with France and hence did not want to offend Spain, England was also under pressure from the London-based East India Company, who were keen to maintain their monopoly over English foreign trade. It therefore forced the English and Dutch investors to withdraw and this left no source of finance but Scotland itself. This economic disaster for the investing Scottish elites diminished the resistance of the Scottish political establishment to the idea of union with England. The Scottish nobility ultimately supported the union despite some opposition and anti-union riots in Edinburgh, Glasgow. Deeper political integration had been a key policy of Queen Anne ever since she acceded to the throne in 1702. Under the aegis of the Queen and her ministers in both kingdoms, the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed to participate in negotiations for a union treaty in 1705. Each country appointed 31 commissioners to conduct the negotiations, the Scottish Parliament had originally begun to organise an election of the commissioners they would have nominated to negotiate on behalf of Scotland. The commissioners were nominated on the advice of the Duke of Queensberry, of the 31 Scottish commissioners who were appointed,29 were members of the government Court Party and one was a member of the Squadron Volante. At the head of the list was Queensberry, and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, george Lockhart of Carnwath, a member of the opposition Cavalier Party, was the only commissioner opposed to union. Tories were not in favour of union and only one was represented among the commissioners, negotiations between the English and Scottish commissioners began on 16 April 1706 at the Cockpit in London. The sessions opened with speeches from William Cowper, the English Lord Keeper, and Lord Seafield, the commissioners did not carry out their negotiations face to face, but in separate rooms. They communicated their proposals and counter-proposals to each other in writing, each side had its own particular concerns

41.
Acts of Union 1707
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The Acts of Union were two Acts of Parliament, the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had agreed on 22 July 1706. Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in two separate Crowns resting on the same head. The Acts took effect on 1 May 1707, on this date, the Scottish Parliament and the English Parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster in London, the home of the English Parliament. Hence, the Acts are referred to as the Union of the Parliaments, on the Union, the historian Simon Schama said What began as a hostile merger, would end in a full partnership in the most powerful going concern in the world. It was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history, the first attempts at Union surrounded the foreseen unification of the Royal lines of Scotland and England. In pursuing the English throne in the 1560s, Mary, Queen of Scots pledged herself to a union between the two kingdoms. England and Scotland were ruled by the king for the first time in 1603 when James VI of Scotland also became the king of England. However they remained two separate states until 1 May 1707, the first attempt to unite the parliaments of England and Scotland was by Marys son, King James VI and I. On his accession to the English throne in 1603 King James announced his intention to unite his two realms so that he would not be guilty of bigamy. James used his prerogative powers to take the style of King of Great Britain and to give an explicitly British character to his court. In the meantime, James declared that Great Britain be viewed as presently united, and as one realm and kingdom, the Scottish and English parliaments established a commission to negotiate a union, formulating an instrument of union between the two countries. However, the idea of union was unpopular, and when James dropped his policy of a speedy union. When the House of Commons attempted to revive the proposal in 1610, the ordinance was ratified by the Second Protectorate Parliament, as an Act of Union, on 26 June 1657. One united Parliament sat in Westminster, with 30 representatives from Scotland and 30 from Ireland joining the members from England. Whilst free trade was brought about amongst the new Commonwealth, the benefits were generally not felt as a result of heavy taxation used to fund Cromwells New Model Army. This republican union was dissolved automatically with the restoration of King Charles II to the thrones of England and Scotland, Scottish members expelled from the Commonwealth Parliament petitioned unsuccessfully for a continuance of the union. An abortive scheme for union occurred in Scotland in 1670, following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the records of the Parliament of Scotland show much discussion of possible union

A detail from John Rocque's 1746 map of London. St Stephen's Chapel, labelled "H of Comm" (House of Commons), was adjacent to Westminster Hall; the Parliament Chamber—labelled "H of L" (House of Lords)—and the Prince's Chamber were to the far south. The Court of Requests, between the two Houses, would become the new home of the Lords in 1801. At the north-east, by the river, stood Speaker's House.

The old Chamber of the House of Commons built by Sir Charles Barry was destroyed by German bombs during the Second World War. The essential features of Barry's design were preserved when the Chamber was rebuilt.

Another picture of the old House of Commons chamber. Note the dark veneer on the wood, which was purposely made much brighter in the new chamber.

The Speaker presides over debates in the House of Commons, as depicted in the above print commemorating the destruction of the Commons Chamber by fire in 1834.